In The Course de la Paix Juniors will Participate 23 countries and the local rider Kašpar from Terezín as well

Terezín / Litoměřice - The best junior cyclists in the world are going to North Bohemia. This year for the 47th time. Indeed, On Thursday, the international mutistage race (3 - 6 May) - the Junior Peace Race will start. Traditionally, the first depart/finish city will be Litoměřice and during the challenging four days young cyclists will fight for one of the currently most prestigious yellow jerseys in the junior cycling world. Thera are nearly four hundred challenging kilometers awaiting the participants and a battle for valuable points for the World Cup. Perhaps, there will be a new phenomenon discovered this time such as Peter Sagan or Fabiana Cancellara, who also launched their star careers in this race. This year, a local rider - Jan Kašpar will also be at the start.

"We have been part of the World Cup for twenty-four years, and this year we are expecting another great race, during which the spectators can look forward to some new stages, but especially to the struggle for the yellow jersey, which I believe will also include the domestic riders. We have competitive riders in out national team and I am especially glad the Terezin's rider Honza Kaspar is among them. We certainly have something to look forward to, "said Svatopluk Henke, who celebrated a quarter of a year in the position of director of the Junior Peace Race.

This year, in the 47th edition, the cyclists push into the pedals for the first time on Thursday, May 3. The opening ceremony will take place at the Peace Square in Litomerice at 2:40 pm, where around two and a half hours later, the first stage winner will be announced. On Friday, young riders have to face two tests. Firstly, the duel with the chronometer in Trebenice. In the afternoon, the "Roudnice" stage will come. On Saturday, juniors cross the border to German territory. The start of this difficult mountain stage will be in front of the Teplice Town Hall, this year the riders will climb twice the "Vitiška". The finish is in Altenberg, Germany. The four-day fight for the yellow jersey will culminate on Sunday with the stage finish in Terezín. The start of the final stage is this time in Benešov nad Ploučnicí. Thanks to the quartet of HC bonuses, the last stage will be the hardest.

Among the participants is also the best "first-year in the category" rider from last spring, the Czech Karel Vacek, who finished just under the podium on the fourth place a year ago. He would definitely want to improve his placing and his latest results suggest that he can aspire high. Vacek recently won the Trofeo Citta di Loan in the UCI rankings in Italy. The start list includes last year's world champions from the velodrome - the Italian Montichiari, the Russians Lev Gonov and Gleb Syritsa, who added silver from Madison on the same velodrome. The joy of domestic fans will certainly be the start of Jan Kašpar, from České Kopisty. He already gained his experience during the race last year, but had to abandon in the final stage. Since then he has gained more experience. While he was riding in the Euroregion jersey last year, he will start in the jersey of the Czech national team this year. Moreover, another one of the local pupils just missed the nomination - Martin Čech. "It would have been nice to have both boys but the number of places in the team is limited. Just as riders have demanding nomination criteria, we as organizers are fighting each year for the race. It's hard every year, but what would we do without this race? It is a great tradition and we are proud to be included in the so called "Family Silverware" of the Ústí Region. Personally, I enjoy watching the development of all the drivers who have passed through our race. Sometimes, after years, with some of them in the professional peloton we meet and nostalgically recall how the Peace Race helped them to start their career. At that moment, one realizes that what we do is really meaningful. So we will see what this year will bring,"said the director, Svatopluk Henke, at 47th edition of the race.

This year, a Museum of Race Cycling of the Czech Cycling Union will be officially opened in Terezin. In the rooms of Kavalír 6, where there is also the office of the race, one will be able to appreciate the history of this sport. "We have managed to get a number of valuable exhibits. We also have the jerseys of the former race riders of the Peace race. There will also be signed jerseys of world champions Michal Kwiatkowski and Peter Sagan, who have successfully raced our May stages. From the creation of the idea to the actual realization of the museum a lot of time has passed, but this year, fans of cycling will see its opening, "said the director of the race Svatopluk Henke in Terezín.

47th Junior Peace Race 2018 - Facts and Figures:

Organizer: CK Slavoj Terezín

Date: 3. 5. - 6. 5. 2018

Race Director: Svatopluk Henke

Commander of the track: Jan Sedlák

Chief Judge: Echezortu Sanz Miguel (ESP)

Doping Commissioner: Smales Steve (IRL)

Overall length: 370.4 km

Budget: CZK 1.7 million

Media partners: Czech Television, CT Sport, Czech Radio, TV Litoměřicka, PatRESS.cz, Litoměřicko24.

Under the auspices of the Governor of the Ústí nad Labem Region, Oldřich Bubeníček.

Honorary Director - Mgr. Jaromír Kníže, Director of the Police of the Ústí Region

Patron of the race - Gustav-Adolf Schur

Partners: Vars, Cross, Changroup, SBS Cargo, Staw Wurm, WK Service, Iveco Bus, Lafarge, Santini, Ústecký kraj, ČSC, MEYS, Euroregion and individual cities, PatRESS.cz, Tisk Cyklos.
 

Foreign teams: Confirmed 24 of the six member teams representing the countries:

Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Croatia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Sweden, Ukraine , USA.

Czech participation: For the third time in a UCI series, it has enabled the Euroregion to join the Euroregion.

The race will start six Czech riders led by coach Tomáš Konečný and three competitors in the Czech-German Euroregion team. At the start, the Czech offspring rider also appears after years, Jan Kašpar from České Kopisty, who finished last year prematurely in the last stage. 

Czech Republic: # 1 Karel Vacek (Team Giorgi ASD), # 2 Vojtěch Řepa (TJ Favorit Brno), # 3 Jakub Bouček (CK Příbram - Fany GASTRO), # 4 Petr Kelemen Dukla Prague), # 6 Jan Kašpar (Mapei Merida Kaňkovský)

Czechs in the Euroregion mix team: # 203 Vladimír Mikšaník (ACK Stará Ves nad Ondřejnicí), # 204 Michal Rotter (SKP Duha Lanškroun), # 205 Tomáš Ježek (Ivar CS - Author Team).