The junior men's podium: Vojtech Nipl, Jakub Skala and Tomas Medek.(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Jakub Skála (Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor) celebrates his victory in the Czech Republic's junior men's 'cross championship.(Image credit: Michal Cerveny - mtbs.cz)
The start of the junior men's Czech championships(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Tomas Medek runs in third place.(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Vojtech Nipl on his way to the silver medal(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Vojtech Nipl rides on after a run-in with a tree left him bloodied.(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Jakub Skála rides to the junior national title(Image credit: Jan Brychta/RoadCycling.cz)
Jakub Skála (Cyklo Team Budvar Tábor) claimed the victory in a closely fought championships, holding off Vojtech Nipl to take home his national title.
The silver medalist from the European Championship had a slower start, but Nipl fell behind after making several mistakes, including sliding out into a tree and having to stop to extract his bike from the branches. Tomas Medek (Prodoli Remerx Team) took third, two minutes behind the lead pair.
What started as a challenge to see if I could complete gravel's biggest race with a training plan based almost completely indoors turned into a battle for survival as the mud piled up and storm clouds rolled in