Patrick Casey (GRENKE-Auto Eder) has not had too much time to reflect on his exploits in Italy last weekend at the Eroica Juniores-Nations' Cup, with the Irish junior back in action in Czechia this weekend and hitting the target once more.
The 18-year-old lined up for his trade team in the Grand Prix West Bohemia (2.1) and started where he left off last week; getting himself up the road and into contention, laying the ground work for another top general classification finish.
"I felt really good and I knew I could get away, though I was maybe too aggressive early on," Casey told stickybottle of the opening stage of two. "But eventually a group of six got away and instinctively I looked at it and said 'that's a bit too dangerous not to be in'."
Advertisement
The Irish teenager attacked and rode across to that breakaway, which was just dangling off the front of what was left of the bunch. From behind, eventual stage winner Pavel Sumpik (Roman Kreuziger Cycling Academy) did the same, but when he got across to the breakaway riders, including Casey, he kept going.
"He got on the front, thinned the break down and drove is clear, and then there was just five of us," added Casey of the winning move, which quickly caught his team mate, Fietzke, who had been clear for about 50km solo.
Related News
Pavel Sumpik ?? se impone al sprint en la etapa 1 del Gran Prix West Bohemia
Completaron el podio: Paul Fietzke ???y Patrick Casey ???
Mañana será la 2a y última etapa pic.twitter.com/1FnVNCn92Y
— Avituallamiento Ciclista (@EVTMO_) April 27, 2024
Casey finishes 3rd on yesterday's stage 1, the result that decided the general classification after a bunch sprint settled today's second stage
Sumpik then attacked again on the climb on the circuit, dropping everyone apart from Casey and Fietzke, before a regrouping of the initial breakaway.
The group then worked together to pull out as much time for general classification as they could, before Sumpik went again last time up the climb. And, once again, he dropped the others, apart from Casey and Fietzke.
That trio then went to the line, with Sumpik leading it out to win from Fietzke and Casey after 120km of racing on a circuit in Kyšice. Today's second stage came down to a bunch sprint, won by Casey's Danish team mate Noah Lindholm Møller Andersen.
As the main general classification men finished in the bunch there was no change in the overall, with Sumpik winning the race outright by two seconds from Fietzke, with Casey 3rd at 11 seconds.
