Even though Irishman Nicolas Roche has been honoured by holding a ‘number one’ on the Tinkoff-Saxo startlist for the Giro d’Italia, last year’s top ten finisher Rafał Majka is expected to co-captain the Danish squad in the Italian grand tour, hoping to improve on his seventh place from the 2013 season.

Majka rode the Tour de Romandie last week as his final build-up towards the Giro, and even though the young Polish climber seemed yet to rich his top disposition, he wasn’t far off the mark either, eventually finishing the Swiss event 13th in the general classification.

Even though a fair amount of time trialing does not work in a favour of the 24-year old climber, most of the top ten contenders lining up at the start in Belfast is not known for their flawless rides against the clock and thus Tinkoff-Saxo co-captain should be able to limit his losses.

Majka expressed his concern about health issues as the weather conditions that riders faced in Ireland are by far less favorable than in Italy, but claimed to be ready for his season’s main objective and pleased with a confidence the Danish squad provided him with.

“[The weather] in Belfast is not as warm as in Italy. Yesterday we had to practice in long sleeved kit and caps not to catch any infection. When a cyclist is in a good shape, it’s easy to be entangled by a virus.”

“For me, everything is on a right track. I am very pleased with the confidence that the team has given me. Tomorrow’s time trial is important, because it will show the distribution of main forces in the peloton. For sure we’ll do our best!,” Majka wrote on his facebook profile.