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Sylwester Szmyd
	Szmyd at the 2010 Tour de Romandie
Personal information
Full name	Sylwester Szmyd
Born	2 March 1978 (age 46); Bydgoszcz, Poland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber; Domestique;
Professional teams
2002–2003	Mercatone Uno
2004	Saeco
2005–2008	Lampre–Caffita
2009–2012	Liquigas
2013–2014	Movistar Team
2015–2016	CCC–Sprandi–Polkowice
Major wins
	1 stage Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré (2009)

Sylwester Szmyd (born 2 March 1978) is a Polish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016.

Born in Bydgoszcz, 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.^[2]

Professional career

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.^[3]

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 kilometres (5.3 miles) at an average 15% gradient). The finish line was situated 1.5 km (0.93 mi) after the summit.^[4] 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 (Colnago–CSF Bardiani) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre–ISD) were accepting their awards on the podium.^[5]

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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[1]

Major results

1999: 4th Overall Ronde de l'Isard
2000: 2nd GP Capodarco
2001: 6th Overall Tour de Pologne; 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
2005: 7th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
2006: 5th Japan Cup; 6th Overall Giro del Trentino; 9th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali; 10th Overall Tour de Romandie
2007: 2nd Overall Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda; 7th Giro dell'Emilia; 9th Overall Tour de Romandie
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 Tour de Pologne
2010: 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Giro d'Italia; 6th Overall Tour de Pologne; 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
2012: 3rd Overall Giro del Trentino; 7th Overall Tour de Romandie
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

Grand Tour	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Giro d'Italia	44	24	43	64	19	28	23	43	60	82	28	—	—	45
Tour de France	—	—	—	—	—	—	27	—	61	42	71	—	—	—
Vuelta a España	29	—	74	24	14	25	—	17	—	—	—	45	—	—

Legend
—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

References

^ ^a ^b Gadzała, Paweł (20 December 2014). "Sylwester Szmyd joins CCC Polsat Polkowice". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
^ Axelgaard, Emil (8 October 2016). "Szmyd announces retirement". CyclingQuotes.com. JJnet.dk A/S. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
^ Jean-François Quénet (12 June 2009). "Szmyd takes his first win in Dauphiné stage five". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
^ Daniel Benson (19 April 2012). "Pozzovivo prevails in Brenzone". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
^ "Pozzovivo wins 2012 Giro del Trentino". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
^ "Giro d'Italia 2012 stage 21 results". Velo News. Competitor Group, Inc. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
^ Atkins, Ben (11 August 2012). "Eros Capecchi and Sylwester Szmyd quit Liquigas-Cannondale for Movistar". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 12 August 2012.