Czech Tour 2023 preview - first part

 

    Welcome to my Czech Tour 2023 preview, where I will be introducing the newest edition of biggest Czech cycling race, which returned back to its original name, while Sazka still remains strategical partner. I have decided to split this up into two separate articles. First half of my preview, before we will get final rosters for most of the major teams at least, will focus on parcours and some other changes, while the second piece will introduce the favourites mostly.

 

Jumbo Visma dev team pulling in Šternberk, 2022

    First major modification is date of the race. After always being set up in more or less half of the august each year, we will get late July action in 2023. That is a natural result of clash with the Glasgow world championships, where some riders who compete in Czech tour should be participating. 

 

    Opening stage is, according to last years tradition, once again set up between Prostějov and Uničov on slightly hilly terrain. Riders will go reversed compared to last years route and finish on circuits in Uničov, where sprint should be generally expected.

  

    Next day, riders will tackle Pustevny (7.6 km, 6.6 %) twice. Compared to last editions, this medium mountain stage will be a little easier and will not enter Slovakian land. Final metres of the day are not the most steep ones, so we can expect some punchy riders to take the win, as was the case with Lorenzo Rota in 2022. 

 

    On Saturday, we will truly see a queen stage. Double ascent to Dlouhé
Stráně (just under the top, with 6.8 % over 9.7 km) followed by climb to Červenohorské sedlo (7.7 km with 4.9 % gradient). With over 3400 vertical metres and hard penultimate ramp, we can hope to see some famous GC raid. This possibility might intrigue Chris Froome, who is coming to Czechia to get propper test of his legs and show his managers that he is worth the contract.

 

    Final day might be seen as just finishing parade by some, but from past editions we know that GC can still shake up in stage four - even this year, it actually has just around 500 vertical metres less then Queen stage. We saw riders high in classification dropping out on cobble hill in Šternberk previously, and if the gap will not be biggest, even bonus seconds might still play a role. We should be seeing mix of classics specialists and overall leaders finishing in first group.

 

    Given the redesign of Dlouhé Stráně stage, i expect to see most exciting edition of race so far. Lot of riders can expect to be out of GC, so they should be encouraged to attack more. I am looking forward to visit at least one stage and see awesome atmosphere once more. Only regret I have is the fact, that we are not getting any TV or live stream coverage. We can only hope for 2024 to be the key year in this area.