Last week Sylwester Szmyd did the last races of his career. The 38-year-old Polish climber debuted in 2001 and has over the years become a prized climbing domestique. "The body is in good condition, but I am mentally tired, which is not surprising after years of having big dangers," he told CyclingPro.net.

"I'll do Milan-Turin, the Giro del Piemonte and perhaps the Tour of Lombardy. These are the final races of my career," said Szmyd before the final races in Italy.

After stints in small Italian teams, he arrived at Lampre in 2005. Here stayed there until 2008 when Liquigas picked him up and he mainly worked as a fantastic climbing domestique for the leaders. In 2013, Movistar signed him for that role. Two years later he returned to his home country with CCC.

His only victory came at the Dauphiné in 2009 where he beat Alejandro Valverde of the Mont Ventoux. Furthermore, the Pole did no less than 23 grand tours.