# Sylwester Szmyd

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.

## 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.
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. 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.
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.
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.

## 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 |