"I've finished second here three or four times" - Alessandro Fancellu breaks "bad luck" at Czech Tour to claim first professional win
CyclingMonday, 17 August 2026 at 03:00
The 2026 Czech Tour came to a wrap with a third summit finish in a row. But unlike in previous two stages, Andrew August's dominance came to end atop Pustevny. Alessandro Fancellu finally broke the streak of second places to dethrone the American, at least for that moment, to take his first professional victory. August in second place successfully defended his overall victory.
"Finally!" Fancellu began in his post-race interview. "Since last year, I've finished second here three or four times, and today I finally managed to win. I didn't feel great at the start, but then as the stage progressed, I felt better, and on the final climb, I wanted to attack. But Ineos' pace was very strong, so I decided to wait for the sprint, accelerated at the right moment, and finally won."
Thus comes to an end a series of second places at Czech Tour for Fancellu who arrived runner-up three times across last two editions. In 2025, Junior Lecerf stood in Fancellu's way. This year, he had to deal with the young Netcompany INEOS leader who seemed to always have a slightly upper hand in the finale. Until today.
NSN Cycling Team were the first to lay down a heavy pace for their GC hope Jan Hirt, but the group only started to shrink under the pace of Netcompany INEOS who did not allow for any attacks on the final summit. Thus, everything come to a final sprint to the line where Fancellu launched first. And even though he clipped out his shoe briefly, he managed to regain speed and win convincingly ahead of August and Nicolas Breuillard.
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"It's really special, we came here with high ambitions," the 26-year-old continued. "We came very close in the previous stages, and in the end I was able to take home a victory."
The penultimate stage was the hardest
Asked about the race as a whole, Fancellu pointed out the penultimate stage with traditional summit to Dlouhé Stráně as most challenging of the entire week. Especially since his rival August was perhaps the strongest of the entire race there:
"Yesterday's stage was perhaps the most challenging for me, because with the final attack, August really gave it his all, and I could barely keep up with him, and in the sprint I didn't have the legs."
A race Fancellu hopes to win one day
In the end, it's a second place overall for Fancellu who therefore improves on his third place from last year's edition. And the MBH Bank CBS Telecom Fort rider does not hide his ambitions to try and come back to win the race in 2027: "I really like this race, there's a great atmosphere, a great course, and I hope to be able to come back here next year."
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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