Josef Cerny is just 19 and the Giro del Trentino is his first real race as part of the CCC Polsat Professional Continental team. Yet after getting in the break during the morning stage and then thanks to CCC Polsat's 12th place in the team time trial, the fresh-faced Czech rider has found himself wearing the race leader's fuchsia jersey.
Cerny took the jersey from stage 1a winner Maxime Bouet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and now leads the Frenchman by 11 seconds, with Michael Rodriguez (Colombia) third at 16 seconds. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) is the best placed of the overall contenders, a significant 6:03 behind. However, that gap could melt like the spring snow covering the Dolomites as the riders tackle the 224.8km second stage, with a mountain finish at Vetriolo Terme.
Cerny could hardly believe what had happened to him.
"It's awesome, I'm very happy and I'm enjoying this," he said with a grin.
"Tomorrow's stage is very hard. I'll try to keep the jersey but it won't be easy. However Bouet and the other guys in the break with me today are only human so well see what happens."
"I suppose it was just my turn for success today. It's a good moment or Czech cycling after Roman Kreuziger won the Amstel gold Race. Jan Barta of NetApp is also a good Czech rider. I hope to be like them one day."
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Our tactics will be very simple
With Cerny struggling to handle the emotions of success and being thrust in media spotlight, CCC Polsat directeur sportif Piotr Wadecki talked about the lanky Czech teenager.
"Two years ago he stopped racing after being a junior because there were no good teams in Czech Republic. He then found a small team in Poland, and I saw him in the mountains at a race and thought he'd be a good rider to sign." Wadecki said.
"He can climb but he has never done such a big race as this one. We'll see what happens. Our tactics will be very simple. We'll mark Bouet. We've got Davide Rebellin ready for this race and we'll see what Sky will do."
"Whatever happens it's been a pretty special day for Josef and the team."
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
