VIDEO INTERVIEW | Mathias Vacek declares all-out offensive on McNulty's red jersey: "We want to go for it and see if we can take it"
CyclingIt's taken only one stage of this year's Vuelta a Espana to have plenty of surprising results. Perhaps the biggest upset was the 22-year-old Czech Mathias Vacek who clocked better times than all the top-time trialists at the start. Only the penultimate rider on the road, Brandon McNulty was able to overcome the Lidl-Trek rider by two seconds.
Speaking to Cyclinguptodate, Vacek nodded that this might be the career-changing result, however there are still many other goals in this race. "Yeah, for sure. It's a massive step up to be one of the top riders out there. I need to fight also in the next stages and be as consistent as possible and fight for other stages and help the team to go for the GC and everything. I'm really looking forward to it."
Vacek already hinted that 2024 will be a decisive year for his future ambitions, showing himself strongly at Paris-Roubaix and later also at Tour de Hongrie and Tour of Norway, working for teammate Thibau Nys. Double top-15 result at the recently concluded Olympic Games only confirmed a good form of the Czech all-rounder.
Currently only two seconds shy of McNulty's red jersey, is it a goal to try and score some bonification seconds in the next two stages with expected opportunities for the fast men? "We'll see if it will be a bunch sprint or not tomorrow, but for sure, I will put me in the mix. Of course that the red jersey is so close, so we want to go for it and see if we can take it."
Lidl-Trek came mostly with ambitions for the general classification and thus thinking they'll throw everything at Vacek's provisional lead bid would be delusional. It'll be up to the Czech to take calculated risks on his own: "But also we don't want to take any risks in the first stages to crash out or something. That would be a shame."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yes, Roglic could theoretically have beaten Sepp. Jonas must have had complete confidence that he could come back and win the Vuelta another year. Visma had not allowed Roglic to ride the Tour that year, so his future did not look so bright, despite his narrow Giro win..Hills3315-11-2026
- So far, a good series about riders before my time, even if the text feels AI generated like so much on this site. About the rider, he seems like one of many who are active fan favorites but don’t survive in the stories of cycling, a few decades later - I didn’t really know anything about him and this was a good read, thank you!RidesHills15-11-2026
- A calm, honest documentary, a bit of hagiography but mostly not too much. When he talks about a coffee shop, it aligns with several things in his world - he might want calm, but he does (more than a little bit) have someone near him (his fiancee) who makes sure that things happen the way he expects. Many atheletes have retired only to find out just how much others were taking care of their lives for them. If they work out (I'm old, things happen), I am sure it will take a renegotiation, which is a good thing. I truly enjoyed watching it, seeing him, seeing her, seeing the whole system built around him.RidesHills15-11-2026
- You do? My mother grew up around Bleiburg (Pliberk), across the border in Austria . My grandparents lived close to the train station in Bleiburg, and I spent a lot of the 70s and 80s there. The "Jugo" train of my youth went to Dravograd or Maribor, exotic places (behind the wall) at the time. What a moment that was, the 10 days war of '91 - times sure have changed.RidesHills15-11-2026
- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
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Agonisingly close to the big W 🤏 but Mathias Vacek pulls on the white jersey as Best Young Rider at the end of day one at #LaVuelta24 🤍 after a monster TT from the Czech champion 🇨🇿
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