Sylwester Szmyd (born 2 March 1978) is a Polish former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016. Born in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Szmyd competed as a climber who served as a leader in smaller stage races, and as a strong mountain domestique for his team leaders in the Grand Tours. He completed all of the 23 Grand Tours that he started during his career.

Professional career

In 2009, Szmyd scored the first victory of his career when he crossed the finish line atop the

Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...

during the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He had broken away with

Alejandro Valverde Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (born 25 April 1980) is a Spanish cyclist, who competed as a professional in road bicycle racing from 2002 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2022, and now competes in gravel cycling for the Movistar Team Gravel Squad. During ...

() 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. In the

2012 Giro del Trentino The 2012 Giro del Trentino was the 36th edition of the Giro del Trentino cycling stage race. It was held from 17–20 April 2011, and was rated as a 2.HC event on the 2012 UCI Europe Tour. It was won by 's rider Domenico Pozzovivo. Tour ...

, 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 ( at an average 15% gradient). The finish line was situated after the summit. On the last stage to the Pordoi Pass, Szmyd finished in fourth position at the altitude finish, securing his third place in the overall classification. Snow was falling as he, race winner Domenico Pozzovivo () and Damiano Cunego () were accepting their awards on the podium. He participated in the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

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. Szmyd left his team of four years at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the on a two-year contract, from the 2013 season onwards. In December 2014 Szmyd announced he was joining the Polish 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.

Major results

;1999 : 4th Overall Ronde de l'Isard ;2000 : 2nd

GP Capodarco The GP Capodarco is a European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Capodarco, a city ward of Fermo, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Winners ...

;2001 : 6th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (; ), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km ...

: 9th Gran Premio de Llodio ;2002 : 3rd Gran Premio Fred Mengoni : 6th Schynberg-Rundfahrt ;2003 : 8th Overall Giro del Trentino ;2004 : 2nd GP Triberg-Schwarzwald : 4th

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

;2005 : 7th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano ;2006 : 5th

: 6th Overall Giro del Trentino : 9th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali : 10th Overall

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

;2007 : 2nd Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda : 7th Giro dell'Emilia : 9th Overall

;2008 : 5th Giro dell'Appennino : 8th Overall Giro del Trentino : 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 9th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ;2009 : 1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 7th Overall

;2010 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 6th Overall

: 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné ;2012 : 3rd Overall Giro del Trentino : 7th Overall

;2013 : 9th Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid ;2014 : 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León ;2015 : 3rd Overall Tour of Croatia

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Profile on official Team Liquigas website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Szmyd, Sylwester 1978 births Living people Polish male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Poland Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bydgoszcz Cyclists from Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany