The cycling stars of the future will be in the Czech Republic for the Peace Race from 30 May to 2 June 2024. The stage battle for riders under the age of twenty-three is part of the elite Nations Cup series and will be the eleventh edition.
In the past, current World Tour peloton stars such as Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Julian Alaphilippe, Filippo Zana and David Gaudu have competed on Czech roads.
The 2023 Under-23 Peace Race was dominated by twenty-two-year-old Frenchman Antoine Huby, who subsequently signed a two-year contract with World Tour team Soudal Quick-Step. Pierre Gautherat, winner of the opening two stages, will also ride among the elite this season in the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team jersey. And Jack Gray Rootkin, who won the final stage of last year's race, is again assured of fighting at the highest level for two years in the colours of EF Education-EasyPost.
Among the Czech cyclists competing in the colours of the national team, Mathias Vacek (contract in the World Tour team Lidl-Trek), Pavel Bittner (Team DSM firmenich PostNL), Petr Kelemen (Tudor PRO) and Milan Kadlec (Development Team DSM firmenich) have made their mark in the past years at the Peace Race U23, which only proves how exceptional talents are regularly presented on the roads around Jeseník.
The Peace Race is a part of the Nations Cup, which belongs to the highest world category of athletes under 23 years of age and which also includes the French Tour de l'Avenir or the Orlen Nations Grand Prix in Poland. The four days in the Jeseníky Mountains are always a test of endurance and readiness for the national teams of young cyclists to enter the absolute cycling elite.
