43rd Course de la Paix Juniors stage 1 Race Report

Italian junior Gianmarco Begnoni won the first stage of Course de la Paix Juniors (2.Ncup) around Litoměřice town after sprint from a big group. Youth Norwegian Erlend Blikra finished second and Paris Roubaix winner Magnus Bak Klaris from Denmark finished third.French rider Valentin Madouas is leading the sprint classification while Brit James Shaw took the red and white jersey for the best climber.

photo: PatRESS.cz

Results:

We had a breakaway of two during the stage: youth Denys Morozov from Ukraine and Sjoerd Bax from the Netherlands but the peleton controlled the advantage and caught the leaders in the final kilometers. French team showed their strength in numbers with Ermenault finishing 6th, Paret Peintre 8th, Bouhanni 9th, Fabre 15th and Madouas 20th! Could be a factor on the queen stage. It's not the first win for Begnoni this season as he already won three races in Italian scene for juniors. Best Czech rider finished nineteenth (junior cyclocross champion Adam Toupalik).

Here is what the winner says after the stage:

I am extremely happy because to win a stage of the Peace Race was always my big dream come true in the very first stage. I'm not a climber, so keep the yellow jersey and win the race by the tantamount to a miracle. Rather, I would like to win one of the next stages in the mass range which suits me more.

Tommorow riders will face two stages: time trial in the morning (Igor Decraene time to shine) and hilly stage in the evening.