Zdenek has become Czech national champion on the road for the second time in his career. Our favorite was 180 kilometers in the attack together with 12 other riders and went solo in the final. Josef Cerny took silver, teammate Petr Vakoc bronze.

“We were racing from kilometer zero”, Zdenek begins his story. “And after 10 kilometers there was a nice group that rode away. I decided to jump in and suddenly we were gone. We were cooperating really well and everybody took over.”

Of course the way was still long. “The race was 193 kilometers, so we spend more than 180 kilometers in the attack today. Josef Cerny was the first one to attack in the final. We chased him down and the group became smaller.”

“Some time later I attacked myself and only Cerny was able to follow. Again we cooperate really well, but I wanted to go solo. My first attack with 10 kilometers to go failed, but on the last climb of the day I was able to drop him. It was a nice feeling to ride solo.”

Zdenek won the race with a half a minute ahead of Cerny. “The crowd was amazing. I had the feeling we were in the Tour of Flanders. I am really happy with my second title and I am also proud to ride in this beautiful jersey for the next year.”


Results
1. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) 04:32:19
2. Josef Cerny (Cze) + 30
3. Petr Vakoc (Cze) + 3:44
4. Roman Kreuziger (Cze) + 3:44
5. Jiri Polnicky (Cze) + 3:44

By Niels De Wit on 25/06/2017