William Junior Lecerf pinches Cian Uijtdebroeks' pocket to win stage 2 of Czech Tour 2025 and seize GC control

A thrilling final climb on stage 2 of the 2025 Czech Tour has shaken up the general classification standings in a potentially decisive manner. Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Cian Uijtdebroeks did most of the damage on the climb, but the Belgian had to settle for 3rd at the line as William Junior Lecerf took victory ahead of Alessandro Fancellu.

With the stage parcours built like a hockey stick - almost pan flat all the way until a sharp ramp to the line in the form of a 13km+ climb at Dlouhé stráně, the peloton were willing to allow an eight-man breakaway more than two minutes of advantage as the race headed into the final 30km of the day. Last man standing of the breakaway was Team Solution Tech - Vini Fantini's Ukrainian talent Kyrylo Tsarenko, but with 9km to go, the catch was basically completed. 

At the back of the peloton meanwhile, race leader and stage 1 winner Luke Lamperti had been dropped. Once Tsarenko had been swallowed up, it was Team Visma | Lease a Bike that took control at the front, setting up an attack by Cian Uijtdebroeks. Whilst the Belgian distanced the majority of the field, Uijtdebroeks soon found himself on the back foot as Santiago Umba countered. Once he was caught, the next move came from Alessandro Fancellu, and the Italian entered the last 5km with a clear gap at the front. 

Although he was being given no help in the chase, Uijtdebroeks once again pulled back the attack off the front, reeling in Fancellu, meaning with 3km to go it was just Uijtdebroeks, William Junior Lecerf, Fancellu and the Italian's Team UKYO teammate Nahom Zeray at the front. The Visma star's unrelenting pace then saw Zeray dropped before the final kilometre, but no matter what Uijtdebroeks did, he seemingly couldn't shake Lecerf or Fancellu. With 300m to go, Lecerf then made his move and the Soudal - Quick-Step star held off Fancellu to take victory.