Pavel Bittner of the Czech Republic led well at the end of the introductory stage of the U23 Grand Prix Jeseník Peace Race. During the sprint finish of the entire main field, he proved his pace and crossed the finish line in a clear first place. After a successful performance at the Orlen Grand Prix a week ago, where he was third in the first stage and held the same ranking in the overall classification, he achieved his greatest success in the second N´Cup event.
"This is my first year in this category and it is clearly my greatest success; a step forward. Today is like a dream. Things are going well for me at the moment, I’m improving. Towards the finish there were five Norwegians in front, and we were the second group. It was a bit hectic, but the tactics at the end were made for me and I'm happy I didn't disappoint. In the final few hundred metres I was in third place and started to sprint at two hundred metres from the line," said Pavel Bittner at the finish, silver medalist in the European Junior Championships last year.
However, he is aware that Saturday and Sunday will be more about the elite hill climbers. "It will be another unknown for me and if I can help the boys, I will do everything for their success," he indicated that the leaders of the Czech team for the overall classification are different, thinking of Mathias Vacek and Petr Kelemen.
Other Czech riders were also visible in the introductory stage, starting in Jeseník and finishing 131 kilometers later in Rýmařov. Petr Kelemen scored twice in the mountaineering bonuses, Vojtěch Řepa was in a separate break-away in the final circuits of the finish town and he won a sprinting bonus.
"The boys did a great job tactically. It could be seen that riding actively and above all they were able to make things very difficult for their competitors at the end. The fact that they had to chase Řepa meant we could save something for the sprint and Pavel then put in a performance that ended the best way possible," said Czech national coach, Tomáš Konečný.
Behind Bittner in the sprint finished Wessel Krul of the Netherlands and Jon Golzarri Barrenetxea of Spain. Winner of the prologue, Soren Warenskjold of Norway, crossed the line in 15th place in the same time as the winner, defending his yellow jersey of the main sponsor, Sazka. Bittner moved up into fifth place and took the green jersey in the points competition of Best of British Car.
Results:
Stage 1 (Jeseník - Rýmařov):
1. Bittner (CZE) 3:15:36, 2. Krul (NED), 3. Barrenetxea (ESP), 4. Kubiš (SVK), 5. Lapeira (FRA), 6. de Pooter (BEL), ...22. Petr Kelemen, 38. Bouček, 66. J. Ťoupalík, 68. M. Vacek all identical time, 96. Řepa (all CZE) +4:52.
Standings after stage one:
1. Warenskjold (NOR) 3:19:37, 3. Krul +5, 3. Vauquelin (FRA) +6, 4. Heissmann (GER) +7, 5. Bittner +9, 6. Lapeira +9, ...25. M. Vacek +17, 34. A. Ťoupalík +19, 35. Petr Kelemen +20, 61. Bouček +26. 97. Řepa +5:11.
