Rafal Majka went into the USA Pro Challenge as one of the big favourites but the Pole suffered a time loss to key rival Tejay van Garderen in yesterday's first summit finish. His Tinkoff-Saxo team lament the neutralization as they claim it cost Majka his position near the front of the peloton.

Tipped as one of the three big favourites for the overall win, Rafal Majka suffered a time loss to key rivals Tejay van Garderen and Tom Danielson in yesterday's summit finish on Mt Crested Butte in the USA Pro Challenge. Crossing the line in 13th, the Pole lost 20 seconds to the BMC captain and 10 seconds to the Garmin-Sharp leader.

The stage took place under chaotic circumstances as torrential rain prompted the organizers to neutralize the race midway down the final descent. Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Lars Michaelsen is convinced it partly caused Majka's time loss.

“Due to heavy rain starting with 35 kilometers remaining, the dirt road descent became very wet and soft and the race jury decided to neutralize the stage and re-open it with about 10 kilometers to go," he said. "This was a disadvantage for us. We had Rogers, Majka, Pires and Poljanski on the front, just behind the BMC squad and because of the stop, riders made it back into our chase group and we lost our position. However, I’m happy to see that Rafal was well-protected by his teammates throughout the stage and we’re looking forward to another uphill finish tomorrow."