Lidl-Trek's 'machine' makes his Tour debut fresh off a stunning June: a podium at the Tour de Suisse followed by a second consecutive sweep of both Czech national titles. The 188 cm engine can drag the bunch across rolling terrain for hours, drill the team time trial, lead out Pedersen and still fancy his own chances from a reduced group. Locked up through 2029, he's the Swiss Army knife this squad has been missing.
Palmarès
- Double Czech national champion, road race + time trial (2025 and 2026)
- Tour de Suisse 3rd overall and best young rider (2026)
- U23 world championships road race silver medal (2022)
- WorldTour stage winner at the UAE Tour aged 19 (2022)
- Wore the Giro d'Italia young rider's white jersey (2025)
Cut-out factHe raced cross-country skiing at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics before choosing the bike, and his older brother Karel is also a pro cyclist.
The squad
Riding the 2026 Tour with Juan Ayuso, Derek Gee-West, Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, Mattias Skjelmose, Toms Skujiņš, Carlos Verona — see the full Lidl-Trek team page.
Portrait: AI paper-collage render (gpt-image-2) after a reference photograph — source: Wikimedia Commons, author: Cs-wolves, license: CC BY-SA 4.0.
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