Four days of cycling euphoria—helped along by perfect summer weather. The 17th edition of the Czech Tour served up the most dramatic racing in its history, with the overall decided literally in the last metres of the brutal climb to Pustevny in the Beskydy. Relive the biggest moments of the Czech Republic’s premier stage race in our highlight reel.
“For the first time it felt like a true Czech Tour. We covered the whole country and gave fans a show from Karlovy Vary to Ostrava. Organisationally it’s anything but easy, but we pulled it off. And thanks to live coverage on Eurosport we were visible around the world,” said race director Leopold König right after the final stage.
This year the Czech Tour stepped beyond its traditional Jeseníky–Beskydy heartlands and traversed the entire country. On the eve of the start, crowds enjoyed a spectacular team presentation at Prague Castle; a day later the peloton rolled out from the capital towards Karlovy Vary. Stage 1 ended, as in Ostrava last year, with a bunch sprint won by Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step), who pulled on the first yellow jersey.
Stage 2 was an early test for the GC. Linking Pardubice with the famed climb to Dlouhé Stráně, it was Lamperti’s teammate Junior Lecerf who had the most left in the tank. The Belgian slipped clear in the final corner and held off countryman and top favourite Cian Uijtdebroeks, who paid for his earlier aggression on the ascent.
Stage 3 again connected Prostějov and Ostrava, and—just as expected—came down to a drag race on the finishing straight. Lamperti looked set to defend and bag a second win, but a miscue on the finish-line cobbles flipped the script and delivered a sensational victory to Australian Liam Walshe (Ccache x Bodywrap)—a career-defining moment.
The grande finale came on Stage 4 from Kroměříž to Pustevny, which the peloton had to crest twice. On the final ascent Uijtdebroeks jumped clear, wiped out his nine-second deficit, and moved into virtual yellow. But in the dying metres the Belgian prodigy cracked; Jannis Peter (Team Vorarlberg) snatched the stage win, and Junior Lecerf ultimately sealed the overall.
Czech Tour couldn’t have asked for a better climax. “An absolutely gripping race—we may have just witnessed the most dramatic edition in the event’s history,” König smiled after the podium ceremony.
