At the most important Czech race, the cyclists had to cope with rainy weather and 2,840 meters of climbing.
After the second outing at Pustevny and 167 kilometers, Bora-hansgrohe’s Lipowitz celebrated his first professional victory with a two-second lead over Norwegian Per Strand Hagenes.
Another Norwegian rider, Andreas Halland Johannessen, was third with a gap of 23 seconds.
“I didn’t know how I would do, I didn’t do very well this year, but when I went up Pustevny for the second time, I felt a reserve. Before the finish line, a couple of rivals took over, so there was a lot of twitching and tactics, but the last kilometer, that was it sprint for position,” said Ťoupalík.
“Perhaps I should have tried earlier, a podium is a podium. I will try to improve it tomorrow. The first steps will show, but it will be a long day, there are more hills, the final three are the biggest, but again I want to fight for the best possible position.” added a member of the Elkov-Kasper team, who is twelfth overall with the same gap of 35 seconds as Otruba.
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome finished in 126th place, more than 22 minutes behind. His teammate from the Israel-Premier Tech team Itamar Einhorn, who rode in the leader’s jersey after Thursday’s victory, retired after a fall.
2023-07-28 19:26:46
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