Zdeněk Štybar beat Peter Sagan in the sprint but both riders won their respective national title(Image credit: Jan Brychta / SvetCyklistiky.cz)
The 2014 Czech national road race podium (l-r): Petr Vakoc, Zdeněk Štybar and Jan Barta (Image credit: Jan Brychta / SvetCyklistiky.cz)
Zdeněk Štybar (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) won his first Czech national road title as he finished 53 seconds ahead of teammate Petr Vokoc on the 192km course which also decided the Slovakian national championships. Defending champion Jan Barta (NetApp-Endura) finished third on the same time as Vajkoc
"I'm super happy about this result," Stybar said after claiming his first road win of 2014. "For 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."
Stybar, who is the current Cyclo-Cross world champion, thanked the efforts of his 21-year-old teammate Vakoc who closed down attack after attack during the race.
"The race wasn't easy," Stybar said, "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 (Cannondale). 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."
The win capped of a successful national championships for Stybar who finished third in the national time trial behind Jan Barta while Vakoc's second place in the road race matched meant he finished the championships with two silver medals.
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