Sylwester Szmyd

Szmyd left his team of four years Liquigas–Cannondale at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the Movistar Team on a two-year contract, from the 2013 season onwards. In December 2014 Szmyd announced he was joining the Polish CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice team on a one-year deal for 2015, after expressing dissatisfaction about his time at Movistar, where he was only selected for a Grand Tour once during his two years with the team.

In the 2012 Giro del Trentino, Szmyd was allowed to race for himself and placed well on the final two stages of the race, which were mountainous. In stage 3, he came in second place after tackling a very steep climb, the Punta Veleno (8.5 km (5.3 mi) at an average 15% gradient). The finish line was situated 1.5 km (0.93 mi) after the summit. On the last stage to Passo Pordoi, Szmyd came in fourth position of the altitude finish, securing his third place in the overall classification. Snow was falling as race winner Domenico Pozzovivo (Colnago–CSF Bardiani), Damiano Cunego (Lampre–ISD) and himself were accepting their awards on the podium.

In 2009, Szmyd scored the first victory of his career when he crossed the finish line atop the Mont Ventoux during the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He had broken away with Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and the pair finished together. Szmyd said afterward that he was so used to sacrifice himself as a domestique for his captains that his legs almost buckled in the last corner when he realized he would win.

Sylwester Szmyd (born 2 March 1978) is a Polish former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for UCI Professional Continental team CCC Development Team. Born in Bydgoszcz, Szmyd is a climber who serves as a leader in smaller stage races, and as a strong mountain domestique for his team leaders in the Grand Tours; he has completed each of the 23 Grand Tours that he has started during his career.

He participated in the Giro d'Italia a couple of weeks later, riding in support of his leader Ivan Basso. He set the pace for the lead group numerous times in the hilly stages and managed a 28th general classification spot.