Maas finishes SAZKA Tour in top 10

The race summarized
The stage overview already predicted a hard and tough race, but the start to the SAZKA Tour made it even worse. The entire 150 kilometers of the opening stage were ridden in pouring rain, demanding the utmost from all riders. Three of the five breakaway riders managed to stay away in these conditions and fought for the victory. With the help of Edvin Lovidius, Leopard’s Tim Torn Teutenberg was fifth in the bunch sprint, ending the stage in position eight.

From this point on, the race would become even harder, starting with two mountain top finishes on day two and three. On Friday, the climb up to Pustevny (9.9 km at 5.5%) awaited. Despite many attacks in the middle part of the stage, a closed bunch – with Jan Maas and Miguel Heidemann – entered the final obstacle of the day, on which the Dutchman did a solid effort to cross the finish line in fifteenth. One day later, Jan Maas was again the first Leopard rider to finish. This time, the 25-year-old went on the attack at the start of the final Dlouhé Stráně climb (12 km at 6.9%). This attack was very promising and lasted until 5 kilometers from the summit. Maas was able to continue and finish in eleventh place, which moved him up to twelfth overall with one stage to go.

In this final stage, the numbers one and two of the GC went all-in on the local circuit in Šternberk. Four times the Na Valech climb (900 meters at 9%) was a menu that was to the liking of Leopard’s Jan Maas who showed a very strong performance. Behind the two best riders in the race, Maas crossed the line in fourth, making yet again progress in the GC as he concludes this race in the Czech Republic with a two minute twenty-five deficit to race winner Filippo Zanna. One has seen it already so many times this season: where Jan Maas starts, he comes back home with a very good result.

Result SAZKA Tour (UCI 2.2)
1. Filippo Zana (ITA) – Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè
10. Jan Maas (NED) + 2'25"
68. Patrick Haller (GER) + 38’25”
86. Edvin Lovidius (SWE) + 57’45”
88. Tim Torn Teutenberg (GER) + 1h06’41”
DNF. Miguel Heidemann (GER) - Stage 3
DNS. Colin Heiderscheid (LUX) - Stage 3

Next races
13-22.08 | Tour de l’Avenir | France | UCI Nations Cup
17.08 | Egmont Cycling Race | Belgium | UCI 1.1
20.08 | GP Marcel Kint | Belgium | UCI 1.1

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