After yesterday’s opening TTT in which our 7-man squad managed to get a notable ninth place, just under a minute away from the best time, it was time for the first road stage of the Czech Cycling Tour. The day was off to a very fast start with several attempts to make it up the road, but the bunch kept the distances short until a group of three was let go, forming the breakaway of the day.

After yesterday’s opening TTT in which our 7-man squad managed to get a notable ninth place, just under a minute away from the best time, it was time for the first road stage of the Czech Cycling Tour. The day was off to a very fast start with several attempts to make it up the road, but the bunch kept the distances short until a group of three was let go, forming the breakaway of the day.

Back in the bunch, our riders were sitting safe and on the wheels and saving energy during the almost 200 km that they had to face. The peloton controlled the gap to the leaders well at all times, and coming into the last local lap they breakaway was brought back, and the charge to be in top position for an upcoming bunch sprint started. On the wheel of his teammates, Jordi Meeus progressed all the way to pole position coming into the last corner, and with 250m left he launched a very fast sprint that none of the other contenders could match, seizing his second win of the year (after Wanzele Koerse) as well as his second professional win (Gooikse Pijl in 2018). 

Thanks to today’s win, Jordi Meeus moves atop of the points classification heading into the third stage of the race.

Jordi Meeus, stage winner: 
“I want to thank all my teammates for today’s win. It was a very fast start and there were a lot of attacks but the team covered the important ones and kept me safe all the way to the finish. We knew the finish, we had a clear plan and we executed it perfectly. I knew that my chances of winning came by going through the last corner first and going all out for the last 250 m and the team set me up perfectly to do so”.

Aike Visbeek, Academy director and DS for the race: 
“I am very impressed with the team and how they reacted to first the long period without training and secondly to what happened a couple of days ago. We had a clear plan since we left the hotel this morning, and we knew that Jordi (Meeus) was the guy for it. The condition he showed in the past training camp and his big engine, made him our protected rider for the day. All the riders did an impressive job, and we are really proud to see how quickly all the hard work done by these young talents over the break is paying off”.