The young Belgian is the new leader of the Czech Tour.
Two victories in two days for Soudal Quick-Step at the Czech Tour: after Luke Lamperti powered to a dominant success on the opening stage of the race, his teammate Junior Lecerf took the spoils on the first summit finish, Dlouhé Stráně, a climb the 22-year-old knew well from his two participations in the Course de la Paix, during the time spent in the U23 ranks.
A top ten finisher this year at the UAE Tour and the Tour de Romandie, the Belgian climbed superbly Friday afternoon and kept his calm despite the mounting pressure that came from Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike), who attacked early on the ascent and kept accelerating in the small group that formed in order to create a decisive gap. These countless attacks reduced the leading group to just three riders by the time they entered the final kilometer, making it clear that the winner would come from there.
Junior waited for the last 200 meters to get out of the saddle and pounce clear for his first win in the Soudal Quick-Step jersey, and the second of his career as a pro, following the one he took last year at the Tour du Rwanda. The success netted him the yellow jersey and a four-second gap on the next rider in the general classification with two stages to go at the Czech Tour.
“It feels amazing! I worked hard and I’m happy I got rewarded for this. I want to thank the team for controlling the stage. Once the climb started, the tactic was to just follow and trust my sprint. It helped that I knew the finish from a couple of years ago, and I timed my acceleration well there; once I got a gap, I didn’t hesitate and just kept going”, said Lecerf, who also leads the points classification. “It’s been a great race for us so far. On Saturday, we’ll try to help Luke again, while on Sunday, we’ll just do our best again for a good result in the GC.”
Photo credit: ©Czech Tour
