After two days of constant attacking, Maciej Paterski did what many had thought impossible: wrestle the leader's jersey off Marc De Maar's shoulders in the Tour of Norway. Having made a strong attack with just 2km left of the entire race, the Pole secured the biggest win of his career in a race that was mainly set to act as preparation for the Tour de Suisse.

After several years working as a domestique at the Liquigas/Cannondale team, Maciej Paterski has taken a step down by joining the CCC Polsat team. At the professional continental level, he is now one of the team leaders and expected to deliver results.

Paterski already got close to a very big win in the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya where he made the race-winning break but was unable to keep up with an outstanding Lieuwe Westra in the finale, ultimately settling for fourth. Last Thursday he again came close when he was beaten by Marc De Maar in a photo finish on the second stage of the Tour of Norway.

That defeat, however, set him up for the biggest victory of his career. The time gained by the pair on that stage proved to be more than the likes of Bauke Mollema and Gustav Erik Larsson could claw back in the hillier stages and so the race ended up as a battle between De Maar and Paterski.

In stages 3 and 4, Paterski had made repeated attacks but had failed to gain time on his rival and despite the final stage ending on a hilly circuit, it seemed that the Pole had run out of options. However, he refused to give up and asked his CCC Polsat team to make the race as hard as possible.

On the final climb 2km from the line, Paterski launched his attack and this time De Maar was unable to respond. The group gradually became bigger until it contained 7 riders, with Paterski acting as the driving force. On the line he sprinted to fourth but as the peloton arrived 6 seconds later, it was enough for Paterski to take the biggest win of his career.

"Before coming to this race, I didn't have in mind to win it because I just concluded one week rest and I came to Norway to prepare for the Tour de Suisse," Paterski told Cyclingnews. "But during the race, it appeared that I had a chance to win it, so my team made the race hard yesterday and today comes this happy ending. It’s a very prestigious victory, the most important of my life. I’m very happy, thanks to my team.

"I was more focused on winning the stage so I am really surprised as I did not expect this success. However, we did well all race and took a great result. I would like to thank the entire team. I think everybody could see how my team rallied around me thoughout the race, it was amazing. I am happy and very grateful."

"I am very pleased with the attitude, not only of Maciek Paterski but of the whole team," sports director Piotr Wadecki said. "This is a success for all the riders who worked hard during the entire race. The did very well each day and showed themselves in each stage. Everbybody has been giving it their maximum which was enough to secure this fantastic result.

"Both this year and last year, I can see that our efforts to become one of the best teams in the world, start to pay off. We follow out plan by mainly doing foreign races and big events in Poland. In my opinion this is the only way to create a Polish team that can successfully compete in one of the grand tours in the future."