More than 2,700 meters of elevation gain awaited the bunch on the 4th stage of the Czech Tour. The peloton had to climb the 7.4% Pustevny mountain twice. Before the final day, the mountain jersey was still up for grabs for Team United Shipping’s Czech rider Michal Schuran, but to do so he would have had to win both KOM sprints, including the mountain-top finish.
Michal was in the breakaway, which also included Nicolò Garibbo, who had led the mountain GC before the stage. However, the chance to win the jersey slipped away on the first KOM sprint: Patryk Stosz won the sprint and Garibbo also finished ahead of Michal, so it was already certain by the middle of the stage that the Italian was going to win the KOM jersey.
When the race approached the last ascent, Team United Shipping boldly set the pace at the front of the bunch. Nikiforos Arvanitou led the peloton at the start of the steep part of the climb until Visma took the initiative. Their number one man Cian Uijtdebroeks quickly attacked and he looked confident of winning the race until the flamme rouge. The Belgian talent was caught in the final meters by the chasing group, which included Junior Lecerf, who retained his first place in the GC and won the 2025 Czech Tour.
Balint Feldhoffer finished 21st in the stage and was the best rider for TUS in the Czech Republic, securing 26th place overall.
Michal Schuran was in the breakaway twice during the race – he assessed:
“Today was a really hard day because everyone wanted to be in the breakaway so we went on full gas for 60-70 kilometers. But when today’s breakaway formed I was there and I am really happy about it. The group included the mountain GC leader and then I knew it’s impossible to win the competition but I still wanted to be there, fight for the second place and not just sit in the bunch. I also wanted to be the most aggressive rider of the day but the cooperation in the group was so bad. I tried to go as hard as possible in the ascent to drop the others but they were still there. In the KOM sprint I finished third so I knew that I am gonna be second in the mountain GC. I wasn’t that good how I wanted to be here, I expected a bit more but it is what it is. My shape wasn’t that good so I have to check what’s going wrong. It’s not like it used to be for example in the Tour de Hongrie. I am going to stay in the team for next season but still, I want to achieve good results in this season. But it was a good experience for me. A lot of friends came to cheer me on, it was really cool for me. I enjoyed it, but yeah, I wanted more.”
Erik Fetter was the captain of Team United Shipping – he also spoke to us:
“I think this Czech Tour went pretty well for us. Top 5, top 10 finishes, we were included in the most important breakaways, so we can be satisfied. We may not have been the best in terms of the GC, but it is what it is. We worked as a team, I hope it was seenable on TV. I think we have a pretty good four days behind us. I mainly had a supporting role because of the route. I helped the others get into the breakaway, but for example I tried to attack today. The breakaway formed incredibly slowly today. In the first one, Jani (Pelikán) and Niki (Arvanitou) were also in it, we could have been 30-40 in the front, but Astana finally brought that attempt back.”
📷Photos: www.czechtour.com, Richard Principe