“I want to be remembered as a really good climber, someone who for many years was climbing with the best guys, especially at the Tour, Giro and Vuelta.” A quick check through Rafał Majka’s palmarès confirms his wish will be granted, the two-time Tour de France King of the Mountains winner will definitely be remembered how he wants.

After a 15 year career in the WorldTour, Majka is hanging up his wheels at the end of this season, with Il Lombardia – the race he finished third in as a young pup in 2013, his best result in a Monument – his last outing on October 11. Tadej Pogačar is losing one of his key domestiques – 'a big brother', is how UAE Team Emirates-XRG insiders have previously commented on the duo’s relationship – and Poland is saying goodbye to one of the three riders (the others being 2014 world champion Michał Kwiatkowski and 2024 Tour de France Femmes winner Kasia Niewiadoma) who have put and kept the country on the cycling map for more than a decade.

“The first thing I’d say to my younger self is that the career goes really fast,” Majka tells Rouleur on the eve of the Tour de Luxembourg, his last ever stage race. “I remember my old teammates at Saxo Bank used to say to me when I was 22, ‘Rafał, the career will pass so fast’. In the end it’s true: I'm 36 and it’s gone so fast.” But what a career – a lot of it understated. A wrestler of the bike and entertaining on and off it (in his earlier days he would wink at the TV cameras after he attacked), Majka began his career with Saxo Bank as an attacking, wily climber, winning stages of the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, and regularly placing in the top-10 on GC in one-week races; in 2015 he finished third overall at the Vuelta. “When I started at Saxo I had [Alberto] Contador there and other big riders. I learned to be a leader from them.” He learned how to race like Contador, too. 

Wins weren’t guaranteed – he counts 16 in his entire career, his last being the Polish National Championships this June – but he was always present, always in the frame, often assisting Contador and later Pogačar.

“My best result was a bronze medal in the road race at the Rio Olympics in 2016,” he says. “That year I also won the polka dot jersey at the Tour again, but all riders want an Olympic medal and I achieved that.”

Majka alongside Greg van Avermaet and Jakob Fuglsang on the podium after the 2016 Olympics road race in Rio, Brazil. Image by Alex Whitehead/SWPix.com.

Majka was a protected man for four seasons at Bora-hansgrohe, but results became less frequent. In 2020 he joined UAE Team Emirates where he seamlessly transitioned into a helper role for a young Pogačar, delighting in setting a pace at the front of the group that would quickly shed the peloton in pieces. It was a new chapter, and one he embraced; he became one of the best super-domestiques in the world – if not the best.

“It’s not easy to be a leader all the time, and though I’ve had my own opportunities with UAE in the last five years, I’ve mainly been a helper for the best team in the world,” he reflects. “It’s been an easier life, less stress. When you see that you can't beat the best guys anymore, it’s better to be a helper. It was a wise decision to change.”

Majka rode in support of Pogačar at three Tours de France and at the 2024 Giro d’Italia, establishing himself as the Slovenian’s most trusted lieutenant for several years. “When I joined this team, I saw a small young boy,” he says of Pogačar. “I thought, OK, he can win some races, but every year he is becoming more of a machine, especially these last two years. He’s changed a lot, especially mentally, and he’s grown into a big leader. He wins more in one year than what so many other superstars win in five years. We’re not talking about the best guy in the world right now, but a legend, and working for a legend is completely different to working for other guys.”

Pogačar has trusted Majka more than any other rider. Image by Zac Williams/SWPix.com.

UAE – and you’d assume Pogačar – wanted Majka to stick around a bit longer, but he refused. Retiring on a high, when still operating at the top, is how he’ll bow out. “I want to finish with the best team and best riders in the world, and knowing that my legs are still there, that I will be in the front and I won’t drop. I want to remember myself still at the top, riding at the front, in my last races. That's why I want to stop now.”

There are other reasons, too, of course. “15 years of being a pro rider, I want a little bit more of a normal life with my family,” he says. “I almost never see my kids” – he has two young children – “so this is a decision for my family also. I can still ride my bike, I still have lots of energy so will still go training and on camps, but there’s more important stuff to do as well. 

“I want to switch off for three to four months and then think about what’s next. I’ve still not really thought about it because the first thing I want to do is enjoy my life a little bit. But I want to stay in cycling and sport as I love it, and I want to do great things for everyone in cycling.” Majka the great climber and dedicated super-domestique will be remembered – and missed – exactly as he wishes. “I had many years as a leader, and many years as a helper. Cycling’s changed a lot, but it’s always been fun,” he smiles.

Cover image: Phil Barcatta/UAE Team Emirates-XRG