Andersen of Norway won the first stage of the Junior Peace Race

Litoměřice – The Norwegian Idar Andersen won the first stage of the 46th Junior Peace Race. In the finish on the main square in Litoměřice he arrived with a small lead on a small group of followers and since it was the opening stage he gained the yellow jersey as well.

"It was a challenging opening stage. The escape group which formed about 40 km before the finish, which I managed to join, was the decisive moment of the stage. In the finish it might seem as an easy win, but trust me it was very difficult. I gained a bit of a lead in the last turns in the last decent and kept the gap open until the finish line" said the happy winner Idar Andersen.

There were 136 riders from 23 teams at the start of the stage. The first stage of the race traditionally started and finished in Litoměřice. The 102 km long route brought the race into the hilly terrain near Lovečkovice and Úštěk. In the previous editions of the race this stage usually ended in a bunch sprint, but this time the situation was different, may be due to the chilly wind. Surprisingly, the peloton started to split early, initiated by the activity of the local rider Jan Kašpar. However, the main group turned out to be strong and soon closed the gap. More attempts to for an escape followed, but the one to succeed emerged half way trough the stage. From this group the Norwegian rider attacked and he arrived to the finish with a lead of three seconds on the second Maikel Zijlaard from the Netherlands. Third was the Italian Andrea Bagioli. The beast among the Czech riders was the 25th Tomáš Bárta who lost almost minute and a half. Jan Kašpar from the organizing club lost 13 minutes.

On Friday there are two chalanges ahead of the peloton. First, the individual time trail in Třebenice than later in the afternoon a sroad stage in Roudnice nad Labem. "I believe I can hold on to the yellow jersey" said the GC leader Andersen. "The individual TT can show a lot, but decicive will be the stage to Germany on Saturday. I believe the time for our boys to show their strength will come", commented the Czech Team coach Tomáš Konečný.

Results – 1st stage (Litoměřice, 102,5 km):

1. Idar Andersen (Norway) 2:41:45

2. Maikel Zijlaard (Netherlands) +0:03

3. Andrea Bagioli (Italy)

4. Cole Davis (USA)

5. Daan Hoole (Netherlands) all+0:21

25. Tomáš Bárta (CZ)

27. Richard Holec (CZ)

36. Daniel Rybín (Euroregion) all+1:20

80. Karel Vacek (CZ) +1:38

85. Matouš Měšťan (CZ) +1:59

96. Vojtěch Sedláček (CZ) +3:02

97. Daniel Babor (Cz) +3:10

105. Jan Kašpar (Euroregion) +13:43