Belgium’s Junior Lecerf is the overall winner of the Czech Tour 2025. The 22-year-old Soudal Quick-Step rider produced a stunning finale on the fourth and final stage, clawing back time on his main rival Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) to seal overall victory by a razor-thin margin of just seven seconds.
"I’m so happy. The finale was brutally hard. I had to ease up when Cian attacked, otherwise I would have blown up. But we managed to come back, and at the end I just went all in, like in poker," laughed Lecerf after his dramatic triumph.
His decisive moment in the race came with victory on Stage 2 at Dlouhé stráně, where he capitalized on his experience from the Peace Race to launch a perfectly timed attack. Heading into the final stage, he held a four-second advantage over Alessandro Fancellu (Team Ukyo) and a nine-second buffer over pre-race favourite Uijtdebroeks.
The 179 km queen stage from Prostějov featured 2,975 meters of climbing, highlighted by a double ascent of the Pustevny climb, where hundreds of fans lined the road. On the final climb, Visma | Lease a Bike set a fierce tempo for Uijtdebroeks, who launched a powerful attack midway through the six-kilometer ascent. He quickly gained a gap that, combined with bonus seconds, would have secured him the yellow jersey.
But in the final meters, Lecerf and Fancellu closed the gap, catching sight of the fading leader. As Uijtdebroeks struggled on the approach to the finish line, the chasers accelerated. Germany’s Jannis Peter (Team Vorarlberg) claimed the stage win, Uijtdebroeks salvaged second place, but the overall victory slipped away — snatched by his compatriot Lecerf.
"I did everything according to plan. As a team we worked perfectly. Maybe I needed a longer climb to gain the time I needed. Still, I wanted to race aggressively, and I did. Hats off to my rival’s performance," said Uijtdebroeks, who took consolation in winning the Best Young Rider classification.
Lecerf not only claimed the yellow jersey but also secured the green jersey as winner of the points classification. The polka-dot mountains jersey went to Italy’s Nicolo Garibbo (Team Ukyo), while Tomáš Přidal (Elkov-Kasper) was the best Czech rider. The team classification was won by Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe Rookies.
"Even when I had to ease off, I tried to keep the gap manageable. When I saw Cian ahead of me, I gave absolutely everything and sprinted to cut the deficit. This is incredible," said the jubilant Lecerf, who capped a career-defining week in the Czech Republic.
Foto: Markéta Navrátilová, Jan Brychta
