For the second day in a row, Przemyslaw Niemiec proved that he is getting into some good condition for the Vuelta when he finished 5th in the hardest stage of the Tour de Pologne. Having been the best rider that haven't done the Tour, the Pole admitted that he was struggling against the riders that have come to the race straight from the hardest race in the world.

Crashes in the Giro d'Italia meant that Przemyslaw Niemiec didn't have the spring season that he was hoping for and now he hopes to bounce back in the second half of the year. Today he proved that he is reaching his best condition when he was among the best in the hardest mountain stage of the Tour de Pologne.

Niemiec dug deep on the penultimate climb to stay with the best and was again among the strongest when the final selection was made on the climb to the finish. Crossing the line in 5th, the Pole is now in a good position to finish in the top 10 in his home race.

"I battled against some riders that completed Tour de France in a very good condition," he said. "This is a good feedback for me . Today I'm very satisfied because I could be in the lead group on the steep hill at 13 km to go and I could also fight for a top result on the final climb. In the end Majka was difficult to beat but I got a good result.

"Thanks to these very good performances I can approach tomorrow's time trial with the aim to defend a place in the top 10. This would be a very good result, I'll give my best in the 25km time trial even if I know it won't be a simple challenge."