For the first time in the history of the Czech Tour, the race started from Prague. The bunch covered nearly 2000 meters of elevation over the 163 kilometers. One of our preliminary goals was quickly achieved: our Czech rider, Michal Schuran included in the seven-man breakaway. However, Michal’s other goal of taking the KOM jersey has not been achieved. He finished second in each of Thursday’s three KOM sprints, and all three were won by the Italian Nicolò Garibbo.
The advantage of the breakaway was never more than 3 minutes, with Visma and Soudal Quick-Step easily controlling the bunch. In the downhill finale, the two World Tour teams even pulled harder. We went into the last two kilometers with barely 20-25 people in the front. In the Karlovy Vary finish, Soudal Quick-Step was pacing with unquestionable determination, but our Serbian sprinter Mihajlo Stolić was also there all the way. Mihajlo started a great sprint on one of the Astana riders’ wheel and ended up in fifth place. The stage was won by Quick-Step’s Luke Lamperti by a long way. Lamperti took the yellow jersey as well.
At the hectic end, Michal Schuran lost the main group, so he did not end up as the best Czech. However, Bálint Feldhoffer, who fights for the GC, confidently came with the first group.
Besides Mihajlo, our other sprinter Nikiforos Arvanitou suffered a puncture in the final stage and was therefore unable to participate in the sprint.
Michal Schuran after his attack:
“Yes, it was my goal to be in the breakaway, so it was a success for me but the Italian guy was really fast and strong. It was hard to beat him. Every KOM sprint was a close one and I beat him in the intermediate sprint. I am a little bit sad because the KOM jersey goes to him and especially because the best Czech rider at the end goes to someone else. At the end the descent was really difficult and I was very tired anyway. My position wasn’t the best and there were some crashes, so the bunch was torn to pieces. I was trying to keep fighting but I was so far behind and I wasn’t able to catch the peloton. The hot weather was the biggest enemy today. I even got a heatstroke.”
We also asked Michal about his great sprint:
“After my first top10 in the pro race in the Tour de Hongrie, today I managed my first top 5 against some of the strongest WorldTour sprinters. I knew I had to be perfectly positioned in the final corner. There was a huge fight at very high speed with some risky moments 400 meters from the line. I almost touched the barrier and I had to tap the brakes before the sprint. Huge thanks to my team, especially to (Feldhoffer) Bálint, who brought me back to the first group after a split 5 km to go. Without him, this result wouldn’t be possible!
I sprinted to a top 5 which is of course, an incredible result in this WorldTour level bunch.”
📷Photos: www.czechtour.com, Richard Principe