Przemyslaw Niemiec took his first win since joining the WorldTour when he won the legendary stage to the Lagos de Covadonga. The Pole now hopes that his success will allow him to sign a new contract and stay at the highest level.

Przemyslaw Niemiec went into the Vuelta a Espana with lofty GC ambitions as he was set to lead Lampre-Merida that had lost Chris Horner on the eve of the race. However, it all came to nothing early in the race as the Pole was unable to follow the best in the Asturian mountains.

Niemiec quickly changed his plans and set his sights on a stage win. Yesterday he joined the early break in the stage to La Camperona but as he was on a bad day, he was unable to follow the best.

However, he refused to give up and today he was again on the attack when he joined the early 5-rider break in the big stage to Lagos De Covadonga. This time it was the lucky one as he found himself in a group where he was the only climber and he managed to drop his companions and take a solo win.

"After four years in this team, I obtained my first victory in these colors in such an important race as the Vuelta and in the charming arrival of La Covadonga: I feel so excited," he explained. "I'm happy I could give this joy to the management of the team that always supported me.

"The races is strange: yesterday I made a lot of attempts to escape from the bunch and, when I finally succeeded in joining the breakaway, I had no more energy. Today I tried one attack and I was in the winning action: I perceived it could have been a good day when the breakaway had more than 10' on the bunch and it started to rain.

"I knew the final climb and, also thanks to the hints by my sport directors Matxin and Vicino, I attacked once again in the central part of the climb: it was the winning move.

"I knew this finale but yesterday, I was already in the breakaway and I got dropped. So this morning at the briefing, we agreed that I would save my legs for tomorrow. But there were many attacks and I found myself by coincidence at the front in good company.

"Since the peloton gave us quite a lot of space and the stage was short, I tried to attack with 5km to go in a difficult section of the climb and I kept my advantage. This is my first victory for Lampre so I thank the team and the Galbusera family to have given me the possibility to ride in the World Tour.

"Polish cycling is having a great season. With only three riders, Michal Kwiatkowski, Rafal Majka and myself, we have qualified nine riders for the World’s in Ponferrada. The whole year has been successful, from the first results of Kwiatkowski in the early part of the season to my victory here today and of course the magical moments for Majka [double stage winner and King of the Mountains at the Tour de France and winner of the Tour de Pologne].

"I’ve got no contract for next year. I hope this victory will help for my future. It makes me more serene. For two years at Lampre, I’ve raced as a helper for Michele Scarponi. I’ve loved that job because he was winning a lot. I’d like to do that again. It’s nice to win but it’s also nice to help a winner."

Further down the mountain, teammate Winner Anacona again lost time and dropped to 13th in the GC.

“Luckily we got another stage victory for the team. We are very happy," he said. "Niemec was looking for it for a long time. Yesterday he was already at the front but he didn’t have the legs to finish it off. So at least we have two stages wins after mine.

"I’ve lost a few positions on GC [13th] but I’m happy. I’m calm. I’ve done my best. My legs have reached their limit in this Vuelta.”