“INEOS rode super-strong all day” – Riley Sheehan ruins British team’s perfect Czech Tour plan with stunning sprint win over Ben Turner
CyclingThursday, 13 August 2026 at 21:00
Riley Sheehan admitted Netcompany INEOS had appeared to do everything right on the opening stage of the 2026 Czech Tour before the American produced the finishing speed to deny Ben Turner in Karlovy Vary.
INEOS had spent much of the 163.2-kilometre stage controlling the peloton alongside Modern Adventure Pro Cycling before taking an increasingly firm grip on the race towards the finish.
Ben Swift was among those driving the pace in the closing kilometres and Turner was ultimately delivered into position to launch the sprint. Sheehan, however, had enough left to overhaul the Briton and take both the stage victory and the first yellow jersey of the race.
“I think I felt confident we'd catch the breakaway,” Sheehan told the race organisation's broadcasters afterwards. “INEOS rode super-strong all day, and the chaos of the finish, we all watched it last year, we saw how the group split. [But] I had a phenomenal team to back me up.”
Sheehan turns INEOS control into victory of his own
For much of the day, INEOS had looked like the team most determined to shape the opening stage around their own ambitions. They helped keep the four-man breakaway within reach, then resumed control once the escape was neutralised and the race descended towards Karlovy Vary.
A late move involving Embret Svestad-Bardseng, Marco Frigo and Paul Fietzke was also quickly shut down before Turner opened his sprint in the final few hundred metres.
Sheehan then came past Turner to win, with Romet Pajur taking third. After hours of work from INEOS, the stage still ended with an NSN rider in yellow and Turner on the second step of the podium.
Yellow jersey faces immediate test at Jested
Sheehan's reward is the first race lead of the Czech Tour, although keeping it beyond Friday presents a very different challenge.
Stage 2 finishes atop Jested after a 15-kilometre climb which averages only a little over 4%, but becomes notably harder towards the summit. Sheehan is not ruling out surviving with the leading climbers. “I'll try and hang on for dear life,” he said. “It was a good sprint for me today and maybe tomorrow is another opportunity. It's not the hardest climb, just hard at the final, and if I can hang for a short climb, it'd be good.”
NSN also have a much more natural climbing option in Jan Hirt, who begins his home race among the riders expected to become increasingly prominent once the Czech Tour reaches the mountains.
“But we've got Jan Hirt, too, he's a strong guy and he's flying and he's in his home country, so we'll see what we can do for him,” Sheehan added.
Sheehan heads to Jested in yellow, while Hirt gives NSN a second card once the race reaches the mountains. After denying Turner in Karlovy Vary, the American will now find out how long he can keep the jersey on the first summit finish of the race.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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