Andrew 'AJ' August (Netcompany-Ineos) continued his breakthrough season with overall victory at the Czech Tour, safely sealed on the final day despite not being crowned with a hattrick of stage wins.
Having won back-to-back stages on Friday and Saturday, and with a third straight hill-top finish on Sunday, the 20-year-old American was in the driving seat but only had an 11-second lead over Alessandro Fancellu (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), who ended up winning the final stage.
August's Netcompany-Ineos' teammates effectively defended yellow for him, though, setting such a strong tempo on the final climb to Pustenvy that no one dared attack until the dying metres.
Fancellu opened it up at the end and, remarkably, slipped out of his right pedal before clipping back in and accelerating away to the stage win.
August accelerated himself as his rival struggled for speed but when he drew up alongside the Italian he suddenly sat back down in the saddle and slowed his cadence, holding back as the Italian roared ahead once more.
After the final bend August then truly opened the taps but settled for second place on the day, crossing the line in the slipstream. Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) rounded out the day's podium on the same time.
Not letting Fancellu out of sight meant that August successfully defended the yellow jersey to clinch the first overall stage race success of his young career. His final margin of victory dropped from 11 seconds to seven seconds but he always looked in control throughout the final climb. Domenico Pozzovivo (Solution Tech Nippo Rali) rounded out the final overall podium, 40 seconds down.
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The GC title is August's fifth win of what is fast becoming a breakthrough year, following stage wins at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Itzulia Basque Country, and the two stage wins already in this race.
Results
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Stage 4 results
Position
Rider
Time
1
Alessandro Fancellu (Ita) MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort
03:44:41
2
Andrew August (USA) Netcompany Ineos
Row 1 - Cell 2
3
Nicolas Breuillard (Fra) Totalenergies
Row 2 - Cell 2
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Final general classification
Position
Rider
Time
1
Andrew August (USA) Netcompany Ineos
15:10:37
2
Alessandro Fancellu (Ita) MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort
00:00:07
3
Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Solution Tech Nippo Rali
00:00:40
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Patrick is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish) and a decade’s experience in digital sports media, largely within the world of cycling. He re-joined Cyclingnews as Deputy Editor in February 2026, having previously spent eight years on staff between 2015 and 2023. In between, he was Deputy Editor at GCN and spent 18 months working across the sports portfolio at Future before returning to the cycling press pack. Patrick works across Cyclingnews’ wide-ranging output, assisting the Editor in global content strategy, with a particular focus on shaping CN's news operation.
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