The last stage of the four-day Czech Tour in eastern Czech Republic covered 176km from Šumperk to Šternberk and was characterised by constant ups and downs. Four laps on a punchy final circuit eventually decided the stage, which was won by A. Toupalik ahead of Ben Zwiehoff and Florian Lipowitz. In the overall standings, Lipowitz defended the leader’s jersey. The 22-year-old German and former biathlete thereby achieved the first GC win of his young cycling career. Ben Zwiehoff completed the double victory by moving up to second place in the overall standings on the final day.
Result
01 A. Toupalik 4:24:32
02 B. Zwiehoff +0:04
03 F. Lipowitz +0:06
General Classification
01 F. Lipowitz 16:32:10
02 B. Zwiehoff +2:20
03 J. Otruba +2:44
From the Finish Line
“What can I say, I’m pretty speechless after these four days here at the Czech Tour. In my first year as a pro, I didn’t expect to finish this race with an overall victory, so this definitely gives me a lot of motivation for the next races. The step from biathlon to cycling was definitely the right one! I felt great here and I seem to have come out of a little break in July in really good shape. A big shoutout to my teammates and the whole team here – the past few days at the Czech Tour have been really great. Now, the next task for me is the Vuelta Burgos in Spain.” Florian Lipowitz
“We are more than happy with the outcome of this race! Going 1-2 in the overall standings, a stage win, and three days on the podium – it couldn’t have gone any better. This strong team performance is rounded off by our victory in the team classification and 11th place overall with Toni Palzer, who only just missed his first top 10 result. All in all, it was a tough race, which unfortunately was somewhat overshadowed by the WorldTour races this weekend, but was also fully convincing this year with great organisation and great stages. The guys all presented themselves in great form, gained self-confidence here and are ready for the next tasks.”Bernhard Eisel, Sports Director
