A lot of you will agree that the rider in question has done enough this spring to earn himself a thread. I certainly do think so, most likely given my strong bias - I come from his neck of the woods, lol
ProCyclingStats.com:
Date of birth: 12th September 1986 (28yo), in Kalisz (PL)
Nationality: Polish
Weight: 71 kg Height: 1.86 m
Team: CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice
I didn’t follow him closely in his years as a junior or espoirs rider, but he had a few wins & podiums in one-day races in Italy, and won the Points Classification at Tour de l'Avenir in 2008. He then rode with Marchiol Pasta Montegrappa Site through 2009, with Elia Viviani being one of his team-mates. Arguably, his results at u23 level warranted a spell as a stagiaire, and, subsequently, a contract with Liquigas-Doimo (WT) for 2010.
He had very few notable results with the Italian team, mainly having to fulfil domestique duties. I first realised he is a prospect during 2012 Tour of Romandie. If he hadn’t got boxed-in, he would have denied Brad Wigging his one and only sprint victory (Stage 1). Well, it’s just an opinion – most of you will say that Wiggo was simply unstoppable that year
Anyway, Maciek rode an aggressive race, yet remained on a bottle duty through that season, and the next as well. Can’t really blame Liquigas management, and not even the late surge towards the end of 2013 could secure him a contract at the Pro Tour level. He first clinched a podium in GP Industria & Commercio di Prato (1.1), and then my eyes nearly popped out when Maciek came home 19th in the Elite Road Race at the Worlds. Quite a feat if you bear in mind the parcours and the weather conditions in Florence.Failing to secure a contract with a Pro Tour team is, of late, proving to be a blessing in disguise. He really took his chances in 2014 with CCC, first winning the overall in Tour of Norway (HC) with De Maar, Mollema, Larsson and Ciolek rounding up the top5 on GC. He also won the Mountains Classification in Tour de Pologne (PT). Then came the Worlds in Ponferrada, where Maciek was instrumental in Kwiato’s victory. He singlehandedly brought back a dangerous break on the penultimate lap with a 10k-long turn at the front (ok, it was mostly downhill ), and then did some policing work on Mirador when Kwiatek had attacked. He came home 17th, not really contesting the sprint, being overjoyed with his team-mate’s win.
Despite heaps of praise from Polish cycling community (I’m sure he had caught an eye of some of the forums members by then), it wasn’t until this spring that we all realised what budding genius of two wheels Maciej is – somebody should really curb the enthusiasm here
As some of you well remember, he finally brought the goods home in a Pro-Tour race (Volta Ciclista a Catalunya). His maiden PT win came just a day after finishing La Primavera in the front group – not bad at all. Recently, he finished a runner-up in Volta Limburg Classic (1.1) – tactically a poor display from CCC-Sprandi-Polkowice outfit, and got awesome 9th places in both De Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race – he should have followed Ben Hermans in the former race rather than the latter
He’ll learn from that tactical error – exactly the mistake Kwiato had made last year, following Samuel Sanchez up the Cauberg. Maciej’s dominance in this week’s the new stage race in Croatia (against a poor field it has to be said), no longer raised any eyebrows. Giro is approaching fast, but he already has 31 racing days in his legs, and unless he’s able to display a la Valverde season-long peak of form, he will probably fade early on (I would be heart-broken if this thread had to be moved to The Clinic 
).Sky (Pro Cycling Project) is the limit, although I’d rather he stuck to his leadership role at a smaller team. Taking his palmares aside, Maciej is a fearless attacker, with an aptitude for short punchy climbs. His trademark has to be his peculiar way of sprinting, with his bum glued to the saddle – he must have picked it up from Spartacus himself
His nickname in the Polish community/peleton is Patera. Being 28yo, he is probably past being a prospect, but definitely, a rider to watch in the next few seasons! Hopefully, Maciej’s good form continues, and this thread resurfaces once in a while.
