Tinkoff-Saxo proved that they are very much still in the game in the Tour de France when Rafal Majka finished second in the first Alpine stage of the race. Admitting to be tired after the Giro, the Pole claims to be hungry for more in the hard final week of the race.

Rafal Majka finished today’s stage to Chamrousse with a second place only beaten by Vincenzo Nibali. Majka attacked early on the final climb and kept all the GC-contenders behind him expect the race leader, who crossed the finish line 10 seconds in front of him. Today’s 2nd place only makes the 24-year old Pole want a stage win even more.

“I’m satisfied but I’m definitely hungry for more and the stage to Risoul tomorrow is a possibility. I’m at the Tour and I’ve done the Giro, so naturally I’m a bit tired. But I’m glad that I came in second just after Nibali on a 20-kilometer climb. That’s not so bad”, says Rafal Majka after the stage.

Moments after crossing the finish line, Majka was already thinking about stage 14 featuring a tough finishing climb to Risoul.

“I will try to be aggressive tomorrow like I was today. Rogers and Roche are strong on the climbs so we have different cards to play. The first climb tomorrow will definitely be hard as well so I’ll be ready if the right moment comes”, adds Rafal Majka.

“It was a very fast start of the stage as Katusha took control of the pace probably to score more points in the mountain classification," sport director Philippe Mauduit said. "As the stage progressed and we entered the final climb, we had Michael, Nico and Rafal in the group of favorites.

"Nico was the first to get dropped but Rafal showed good form by launching a promising attack but he wasn’t strong enough to follow Nibali’s pace as he went past. But there’s another day tomorrow with longer climbs and we’ll try to win, which is our target now."