Rafał Majka facts for kids

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Rafał Majka

Majka at the 2022 Tour of Slovenia

Personal information

Full name

Rafał Majka

Born

12 September 1989 (age 35)
Zegartowice, Poland

Height

1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)

Weight

58 kg (128 lb; 9 st 2 lb)

Team information

Current team

UAE Team Emirates

Discipline

Road

Role

Rider

Rider type

Climbing specialist

Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France

Mountains classification (2014, 2016)

3 individual stages (2014, 2015)

Vuelta a España

2 individual stages (2017, 2021)

Stage races

Tour de Pologne (2014)

Tour of Slovenia (2017)

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2016)

Rafał Majka (born 12 September 1989) is a professional road cyclist from Poland. He rides for the UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates. Rafał is known as a very strong climber. This means he is great at riding up mountains.

He became well-known at the 2013 Giro d'Italia, finishing 7th overall. The next year, he improved to 6th place. So far, he has won fifteen races in his career. His major wins include three mountain stages in the Tour de France. He also won the "mountains classification" twice at the Tour de France (in 2014 and 2016).

Rafał also won two stages and the overall race at the 2014 Tour de Pologne. In 2015 Vuelta a España, he finished third overall. This was his best result in a Grand Tour race. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he won a bronze medal for Poland in the road race.

Rafał Majka's Cycling Career
Personal Life
Major Results
Images for kids
See also

Rafał Majka's Cycling Career

Rafał Majka started his professional cycling journey in February 2011. He signed a contract with the Saxo Bank–SunGard team.

Early Years: 2011–2012

In 2011, Rafał rode in the Vuelta a España. However, he had to leave the race in the last week. In August 2012, he finished second in a stage at the Tour de l'Ain. He was part of a small group that broke away from the main riders.

Later in 2012, Rafał won the white jersey at the Tour of Beijing. This jersey is given to the best young rider. He finished seventh overall in that race. He also came in third place at the Japan Cup.

Breaking Through: 2013 Season

In 2013, Rafał competed in the Giro d'Italia for the first time. He fought hard for the best young rider jersey. He ended up finishing seventh overall in the race.

He then led his home race, the Tour de Pologne, for three days. He finished fourth overall and won the points classification. Rafał also had good results in other races. He finished second at Milano–Torino and third at the Giro di Lombardia.

Winning Big: 2014 Season

Before the Giro d'Italia, Rafał won the white jersey at the Critérium International. He finished fourth overall in that race. At the Giro d'Italia, he was one of the main riders for his team. He held third place overall for a while. He finished sixth overall, which was better than his 2013 result.

Majka wearing the polka-dot jersey at the 2014 Tour de France. This jersey is for the best climber!

Rafał joined the Tour de France at the last minute. He won his first professional race stage on stage 14. He rode alone on the final climb to Risoul. This made him the first Polish rider to win a Tour de France stage since 1993. Four days later, he won another stage on a mountain finish. These wins helped him earn the polka dot jersey. This jersey is given to the best climber in the Tour de France. He was the first Polish rider to win a jersey at the Tour de France.

A few weeks later, he won two stages at the Tour de Pologne. He then won the overall race by eight seconds. This made him the first Polish rider to win the Tour de Pologne at the top level.

Grand Tour Podium: 2015 Season

In 2015, Rafał focused on the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He won stage 11 of the Tour de France. This was his third stage victory at the Tour.

His main goal was the Vuelta a España. He wanted to finish in the top five or on the podium. He rode very well throughout the race. On the second-to-last stage, he moved from fourth to third place. This was his first time finishing on the podium of a Grand Tour. He also finished second at Milano–Torino again.

Olympic Medal and Giro Success: 2016 Season

In early 2016, Rafał had good results in smaller races. At the Giro d'Italia, he was the team leader. He finished fifth overall, which was his best result in that race. After the Giro, he won the Polish National Road Race Championships for the first time.

Majka at the 2016 Tour de France.

During the Tour de France, his team leader had to leave the race. Rafał then became a key rider for his team. He won the mountains classification again, just like in 2014.

At the Rio Olympics, Rafał won a bronze medal. He finished third in the individual road race. He was in a group that broke away from the main riders. Two other riders crashed, leaving Rafał alone in front. He was caught near the finish line but still managed to get third place. This was Poland's first medal at the Rio Olympics. It was also the first medal for a Polish male cyclist in an individual event since 1980.

New Team and More Wins: 2017–2020

In 2017, Rafał joined the Bora–Hansgrohe team. He finished sixth overall at the Abu Dhabi Tour. He also came tenth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. At the Tour of California, he won a stage and took the race lead. He finished second overall in that race.

He won the overall race and the mountains classification at the Tour of Slovenia. He also won a stage there. He finished second in his home race, the Tour de Pologne. In September, Rafał won his first stage at the Vuelta a España. He held off other top riders to win a tough mountain stage.

In 2018, Rafał had several top-ten finishes. He rode in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. He finished in the top 20 in both races.

In 2019, Rafał finished sixth overall at the Giro d'Italia. He also finished sixth overall at the Vuelta a España. He was a team leader for his team in both races.

In 2020, Rafał finished third overall at Tirreno–Adriatico. He also finished fourth overall at the Tour de Pologne. He finished his season at the Giro d'Italia, where he placed twelfth overall.

Supporting a Champion: 2021–Present

In October 2020, Rafał signed with UAE Team Emirates. His new role was to help his teammate Tadej Pogačar in mountain stages. Pogačar had won the Tour de France the month before.

Majka (far left) helping his teammate Tadej Pogačar (in yellow) at the 2021 Tour de France. Pogačar won this race!

In 2021, Rafał helped Pogačar win his second Tour de France title. Rafał then rode the Vuelta a España. He made a solo move on stage 15 and won the stage. This was his first win since 2017.

Majka in the race leader's green jersey at the 2022 Tour of Slovenia. He finished second overall and won the mountains classification.

Rafał started 2022 by helping Pogačar win the UAE Tour. In June, at the Tour of Slovenia, Rafał won two stages. On one stage, he and Pogačar decided who would win with a game of rock-paper-scissors! Rafał won that stage. He finished second overall and won the mountains classification. Rafał was chosen for the Tour de France. However, he had to leave the race early due to an injury. After the Tour, he signed a new contract for two more years.

In April 2023, Rafał had two top-ten finishes. He rode the Tour de France to support Pogačar. On stage 15, Rafał was in a breakaway group. He was able to help his teammate Adam Yates later in the stage. Rafał then competed in the Tour de Pologne. He won the third stage of the race.

Personal Life

Rafał Majka married Magdalena Kowal on 18 October 2014. They have two children together. Their first child was born in February 2017. Their second child was born in November 2020.