Tuomire from France wins the first stage

Litoměřice – Hugo Toumire claimed the first stage of the 48th edition of the Junior Peace Race. The member of the French national team arrived alone after a solo breakaway. He had 16 seconds advantage over the main field. The best of the host nation riders was Pavel Bittner, 15th in the same time as the peloton.

             "Unbelievable, I so happy it worked out. I saw an opportunity for an attack at km 17, I felt that my legs are going fine and that I could manage this. Well, and now I'm here at the finish as a stage winner." as Hugo Toumire describes the decisive moment of the first stage. This is not the first time he shows good performance in the Junior Nations' Cup this year. He was second in the Junior Paris - Roubaix earlier this year. "This is my first yellow jersey in the Junior Nations' Cup series. I'm really enjoying it, but whether I will be able to keep it in tomorrow's' time trial, wil see."

           The French national team has more reasons to celebrate. In the main bunch another Frenchman, Paul Penhoet, managed to sprint for second place, beating the third Casper van Uden from Netherlands. So the riders of the "coq gaulois" have a podium double.

The riders of the Czech national team did not disappoint either. In the main bunch Pavel Bittner rode for 15th position. And even during the stage the Czech riders were visible at the front. Mathias Vacek tried to break out from the front of the peloton few kilometers before the finish. He would like very much to improve on the results of his older brother Karel, who competed in the race in the last two editions. At some point Jakub Ťoupalík happened to be in a five men breakaway, but that one did not last. "Today we managed to achieve what we set as a goal. The boys were active and they made sure we did not repeat the mistakes of last year, when we missed a decisive split in the peloton. Today they were focused." the czech coach praises the team effort. He was only disappointed that Filip Řehák had such a bad luck: "His chain got stuck already at km 8 and it took us a lot of time before we could reach him with the team car. The delay was so large he only managed to catch up with a group of strugglers. Nonetheless, he made the time cut and we remain six men strong."

Tomorrow, there will be 11 km long individual TT around the town of Třebenice in the morning and a road race stage in Roudnice nad Labem in the afternoon.

Results – 1st. Stage (100,7 km):

1. Hugo Toumire (FRA) 2:32:42

2. Paul Penhoft (FRA)

3. Casper van Uden (NED)

4. William Blume Levy (DEN)

5. Linus Rosner (GER)

15. Pavel Bittner (CZE) all +0:16