It’s been a while since Lotto Soudal have welcomed a Polish rider; with Tomasz Marczynski, a four-time national champion will join the team. Last season, he was part of the Turkish team Torku Sekerspor. Apart from the national championships, he won the Tour of Morocco and the Tour of the Black Sea.

“When I was twelve years old, I started to mountain bike during my free time," he told the website of his new team. "There aren’t any athletes in our family, so it took a while before I came in contact with competition sports. After my thirteenth birthday, I switched to road cycling and began to ride local races. In my first year, I already won two races; when I was fifteen, I became Polish champion for the first time. You can say that I could stand up for myself right from the beginning.

"After the U19 category, I had to search a good team. Given that there weren’t any Polish U23 teams, you had to go abroad. If you stayed in Poland, you could better stop racing because the level of racing in Poland was very low back then. I moved to Italy when I was nineteen and stayed there from February until October. Only for the Polish national championships I went home for a couple of weeks. Luckily, I’m someone who likes to travel. For example, I don’t have any problems living abroad; I think that’s because I adjust myself quickly, I like to meet new people, learn new languages and I’m open to new experiences.

“During the first two years as an U23 rider, I rode for Italian teams. In my first year, I won a big pro race: Firenze-Modena. On that day, I beat Grivko and Ricco; that was a strong start and a very important victory for my further career. The second year as U23 rider went pretty good, but I couldn’t win. During that year, I rode 32 races; of which I finished 28 times on the podium and only four time outside the top ten.

"That regularity made sure that I could sign my first professional contract as a 21-year-old with the Italian team Ceramica Flaminia; my first experience with the pro circuit. It was a big difference, but after a couple of weeks it went better. In my first professional year, I finished a few times in the top ten and became second at the national championships. The Italian races helped me grow as a rider and made me better during the hilly races.

“When I attended the Polish championships in the pro category for the second time, I won. Also in 2011 I became national champion; both in the road race and time trial. I’m up to a total of four Polish titles with the pros; three times in the road race, one time in time trial. Every year I try to be in a top shape when the championships approach. The type of course doesn’t matter; one time I won solo, the other time I was the best in a sprint of forty riders and the last time I won a sprint of five. It’s always a hard race with guys like Kwiatkowski and Golas. Last season, I won the title so I can start my first year with Lotto Soudal in the Polish national jersey; that makes it extra special.

“In 2012, I already was part of a WorldTour team; Vacansoleil-DCM. I look back on that period with mixed feelings; it was a very nice and enjoyable time with a good team, but due to injuries I couldn’t prove myself.

"In my first Grand Tour, the Vuelta, I became thirteenth. I love the heat, I rather ride in 40 degrees than in the rain and the cold. For some people it’s hard to understand because I’m Polish and in our country it can be really cold during wintertime. Because of this, I live in the South of Spain; the weather is perfect and I can train in the mountains whenever I like. My second year with Vacansoleil was a bummer due to two surgeries. That year, I only rode four races and they weren’t good enough.

"Hopefully the bad luck stays away next year so I can fully concentrate on performing. With my 69 kilogram, I’m a bit too heavy to climb with the best; but when I’m in good shape I can follow them. Also my time trial isn’t bad and when the race ends with a sprint with a smaller group, I’m pretty fast.

"For next year, I’m really motivated to work with this top team and nice people. Marc Sergeant gave me the opportunity to join the team and showed his confidence, I’m very thankful for that. This is my second chance on the WorldTour level and I will do everything I can to do my job and help the team as good as possible.”