The French Kowalski won the first stage of the Junior Peace race

Litoměřice – the member of the French national team, Dylan Kowalski, with his victory opened the 41st edition of the Juniors Peace Race. The cyclist form the country of the "coq gaulois" decided to go for an escape in the last kilometers and he managed to defend his position with a small lead.

The 117 members of the peloton opened up the race in an easy pace. In the last years we saw attack after attack, but this time it looked more like a calm before a storm. „From the beginning the pace was really slow, I was quite surprised. No one wanted to attack. No surprise, for a long time we were going against the wind, no one wanted to go for it“, as Michael Vakoč, a member of the Czech national team, describes the first kilometers.

It was the French riders who were the most active in the first stage. Non of the many attempts for escapes lasted for long, but the Frenchman Jauregui managed to build up an almost one minute advantage, while he also won the second GPM.

            The newly shaped entry stage of the race challenged the technical skills of the riders since there were steep climbs and narrow, twisty downhills. And it was mainly the members of the French national team who kept testing the competitors, indeed almost every French rider tried an escape. And the last one was the one which brought success for Dylan Kowalski. He took advantage of the long descent to Litoměřice and that allowed him to enjoy the taste of victory on the Peace square. Thanks to this victory he also gained the yellow jersey. The main bunch arrived just one second behind.

            During the second day the riders will have to face the time trial in Třebenice first and then the afternoon stage from Česká Lípa to Roudnice nad Labem.

Results - 1st stage: 1. Dylan Kowalski (France) 2:39:36, 2. Samuel Lowe (Great Britain), 3. Frederik Plesner (Denmark), 4. Piet Allegaert (Belgium), 5. Toon Wouters (Netherlands), 18. Michael Vakoč (CZ) – all +0:01.

Overal: 1. Dylan Kowalski (France).