The second stage of the Czech race was no easy task. The riders had to cover a distance of over 170 kilometers, including four categorized climbs along the way. The finish was atop a first-category climb.

At the foot of the final climb, Team Visma | Lease a Bike was well positioned. However, as the finish approached, Koen Bouwman, Johannes Staune-Mittet, and Tom Gloag had to drop back. Staune-Mittet eventually became the best-ranked rider of the Dutch team, finishing over a minute behind stage winner Marc Hirschi.

Sports director Robert Wagner had to admit that the team had expected more from this stage. “Unfortunately, we did not achieve a top result. To be honest, we certainly expected more. We aimed for a good result with Johannes and Koen today. The 22nd place is obviously not what we had hoped for. We will analyse this stage and set new goals for the last two days of this race.”

“Everything went well during the race,” Wagner reflected further. “The team provided good support. For example, Tom was able to stay with the lead group for a long time. Tactically, we were well-organized. But unfortunately, we were not strong enough to compete with the other top riders on the final climb.”