Zdenek Stybar Wins Czech National Road Championship, Vakoc Secures Silver
Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team riders Zdenek Stybar and Petr Vakoc took home gold and silver at the 192km Czech National Road Championship on Sunday.
Jan Barta earned the bronze medal.
Stybar, who is also the UCI World Cyclocross Champion, earned the 45th victory for OPQS, in three disciplines, in 2014. Vakoc was essential in the national championship victory. He protected Stybar and closed down every attack.
"I'm super happy about this result," Stybar said. "To me it's the first national title on the road and I'm really proud to wear this jersey. It will be fantastic to ride with it for an entire year. The race wasn't easy. The race was fast since the beginning, but we rode smart. The penultimate lap was really hard with a lot of attacks, especially from the guys of NetApp Endura. Then in the final lap we went on the first climb, me and Peter Sagan. As you know, the Czech and the Slovak championships are united in one race. At that point, to me, it was easier to control and in the final sprint I was able to beat Sagan. I'm really happy that I could finish off with an overall victory."
Stybar won the third national championship for OPQS, after Michal Kwiatkowski and Tony Martin attained national TT titles in Poland and Germany last week.
Niki Terpstra also earned silver in the Dutch National Road Championship, while Tom Boonen secured the bronze at the Belgian Road Championship.
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