Sergey Tvetcov has had an impressive USA Pro Challenge and now he is knocking on the door for his big breakthrough. Only once has he he finished outside the top 10 in a stage and yesterday he pushed no less of a figure than Rafal Majka off the final podium.

Going into the USA Pro Challenge, most expected a battle between Tejay van Garderen, Rafal Majka and Tom Danielson. As expected, those three riders have been among the strongest and they now occupy 1st, 4th and 2nd in the overall standings.

However, a Romanian has slotted into third between Danielson and Majka. Sergey Tvetcov has been the revelation of the race. In the first stage, he was only 13th but in the last 5 stages he has always been in the top 10, mixing it up with the best in time trials, on the climbs and in the bunch sprints. Yesterday he finished third in the Vail time trial, knocking Majka off the podium.

"It was kind of hard TT, cold and uphill, with the altitude, everything," Tvetcov told Cyclingnews. "Finally it was OK for me, compared to last year's result to this year. It was tailwind, so it was faster. I'm really happy with the podium. I feel great I can stay on the podium with big guys from the world tour. I'm really glad to stay with those guys.

"You work hard and train hard, eat well and sleep well, and after that it pays off. But this is even better. It's not a surprise, but I'm really glad to have that successful preparation and be with those guys.

"In years before, like 2012, every team comes here, especially the domestic teams, to be in the breakaway, be aggressive and get the TV time. But you actually waste your energy. But in 2013 I had another experience, just pick out some stages to be in the breakaway, but I got a good result in the time trial here last year. I was 12th place, and I thought maybe I should try to be a little bit not so aggressive, just stay with the big guys and see what happens.

"At the Tour of Utah I just tried to stay with the big guys. I was in the main group, but the mountains there were too steep for me. I just was dropped, but I was dropped from a select group of 15. So I thought, 'Alright, Colorado will be better for me.'"