Czech Tour: Luke Lamperti goes long to win stage 1 sprint

Luke Lamperti (Soudal-Quickstep) claimed his first victory of the 2025 season, out-sprinting Davide Donati (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Gleb Syritsa (XDS Astana Development) to take the stage and race lead on the opening stage of the Czech Tour.

Lamperti started up his sprint early after being led through the final turn by teammate Dries Van Gestel and then powered away to take the win and the first leader's jersey, with a four-second lead on Donati and six over Syritsa due to the time bonuses.

The day's breakaway of six were reeled in with 22 kilometers to go, but Michiel van Vliet (Metec Solarwatt p/b Mantel) attacked from the escape and stayed away for 11 kilometres.

A counter-attack from Iñigo Elosegui (Kern Pharma) followed Van Vliet's capture but he too was caught before the final sprint.

Lamperti's sprint victory came just over a year from his last win in the same race in 2024. His winter was disrupted by a knee injury and he only returned to European racing in late March.

"It's nice to get the win after all the work the team did today and I'm happy I could get my first victory of the year here, in a race where I have some nice memories," Lamperti said.

"It was really warm all day, but we managed to overcome it with a lot of drinks and ice. In the sprint, the guys were just fantastic, and left me in a position from where I couldn't miss. It feels good to be on the top step of the podium and on Saturday we'll try to go for another sprint, but until then, we will do our best to support Junior [Lecerf]."

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