Tour of Slovakia 2021 – Prologue [FULL STAGE – Individual Time Trial]

September 15, 2021

Tour of Slovakia 2021 – Prologue ITT – Dunkerque – Iwuy : 197,1 km

The Tour of Slovakia is a stage race that takes place before the World Championships each year, featuring a plethora of cycling stars both domestic and international. This year will be the 65th edition of the race that usually features five stages and has been a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour since 2017. Beginning in Košice, the race will track from the east to west of Slovakia, along a route that will prepare the riders for the upcoming World Championships. Starting off with a picturesque prologue around Košice, the race will gradually travel from east to west, taking in Spiš Castle (one of the largest ruins in Central Europe), the High Tatras and the spa town of Trenčianske Teplice. Whilst a couple of the stages will suit the sprinters, a hilly stage across the High Tatras looks set to define the general classification and its short, but steep climbs will be the ideal preparation looking ahead to Flanders 2021.

Kaden Groves (Team BikeExchange) took his first victory of the 2021 season and the overall race lead, winning the prologue of the Tour of Slovakia, a 1.6km, pan-flat course through the streets of central Košice.

On such a short course, the time gaps separating the riders were miniscule; Groves’ winning time of 1:50.46 was a mere 0.32seconds faster than second-placed Jannik Steimle (Deceuninck Quickstep), the defending champion of this race. The long-time virtual leader Marceli Boguslawski (Mazowsze Serce Polski) rounded out the podium, finishing with a time of 1:51.37.

The explosive nature of the course lent itself to the attributes possessed by sprinters. As well as Groves, Cees Bol (Team DSM), Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quickstep) and, much to the delight of his home crowd, Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohë) all finished in the top ten.

“It’s a big relief,” Groves said at the finish, “it’s been a long day today waiting for my turn. I was last to go in my team and I just listened to the guys who went before and did what they said. I’m very happy to come away with the win today. The start and the corner were the most important sections of the course. Kicking out of that last corner and you needed to save a little bit on the start just to come home strong, I did that and I came home strong. It’s my first time in Slovakia, it’s really good to be here and I’m really keen for the rest of the week.”

How it unfolded

As the last stage race before the UCI World Championships, the organisers of the Tour of Slovakia have made every effort to design a course that mimics that of the men’s road race in Flanders next week. After the prologue, the peloton will tackle four stages across largely hilly terrain as they cross from one side of Slovakia to the other.

Following the team presentation in front of large crowds who had flocked to see the race and, most of all, a certain Peter Sagan embarking on his home tour for the first time, the prologue began. Taking place on the long main streets of the city centre, on a perfectly straight course except for one 180-degree turn, it offered more of a test of pure speed than any technical challenges.

Of the early starters, Frederik Madsen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) proved the fastest, completing the course in 1:52.78, a full four seconds faster than anyone else had at this point. Restrictions on the equipment- disc wheels and time-trial bikes were prohibited in this prologue- perhaps levelled the playing field between the WorldTour teams and the other teams present. Indeed, Madsen’s time remained unchallenged by the first half of the peloton- WorldTour, ProContinental and Continental teams alike.

Only Maciej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe), a rider renowned for his time-trialling ability- could surpass him and he set a new best time of 1:52.14. Just three riders later, however, Marceli Boguslawski (Mazowsze Serce Polski) leapfrogged Bodnar into the hotseat with a time of 1:51.37.

Boguslawski’s time seemed good enough for victory; contenders for the overall classification such as Jai Hindley (Team DSM) and Alexey Lutsenko were unable to threaten his position as the virtual race leader.

Amongst the last few riders to start was Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) and as he passed by, the crowd held aloft their phones and cameras in an attempt to capture the time they saw the four-time Tour de France winner just metres in front of their lenses. As attentions and the TV cameras were focused on Froome, Groves slipped past, almost unnoticed, to record a new best time of 1:50.46.

A nervous wait ensued for Groves as Steimle, the last rider to set off, rolled down the start ramp with such ferocity he seemed likely to at least challenge for the win. Ultimately, though, Steimle crossed the line agonisingly short and finished 0.32seconds behind Groves.

As the winner of the first stage, the yellow, green, white and polka-dot jerseys all technically belong to Groves. Only the jersey worn by the best Slovak rider was unclaimed by him; Sagan, fittingly the Slovak national champion, will wear this tomorrow.

Results :
1 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:01:50
2 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Marceli Boguslawski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:01
4 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
5 Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
7 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:02
8 Frederik Madsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
9 Jason Osborne (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:03
11 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
12 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
13 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
14 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
15 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM
16 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:04
17 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
18 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange
19 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
20 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Riccardo Carretta (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
22 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:05
23 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
24 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
25 Idar Andersen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
26 Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
27 Jan Bárta (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
28 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
29 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
30 Tomáš Bárta (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
31 Jakub Otruba (Cze) Elkov-Kasper 0:00:06
32 Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
33 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
34 Luca Coati (Ita) Team Qhubeka
35 Matúš Štoček (Svk) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
36 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
37 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
38 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation
39 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
40 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
41 Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:07
42 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
43 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
44 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
45 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
46 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
47 Miká Heming (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
48 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
49 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
50 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
51 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange
52 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation
53 Danny Van Der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma
54 Adam Ťoupalík (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
55 Savva Novikov (Rus) Equipo Kern Pharma
56 Adam Foltán (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
57 Mattia Garzara (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
58 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
59 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
60 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Team Qhubeka
61 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM 0:00:08
62 Tomáš Kalojíros (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín
63 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
64 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Aljaž Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
66 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team BikeExchange
67 Boštjan Murn (Slo) Adria Mobil
68 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM
69 Stanislav Béreš (Svk) Slovakia
70 Asbjørn Andersen (Den) Team DSM
71 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
72 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:00:09
73 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil
74 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
75 Samuel Oros (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín
76 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
77 Patrik Tybor (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
78 Dominik Neuman (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
79 Matěj Zahálka (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
80 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
81 Žiga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil
82 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:10
83 Paul Taebling (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
84 Gabriele Petrelli (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
85 Christopher Jensen (Den) Team BikeExchange
86 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation
87 Martin Chren (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
88 Helmut Trettwer (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
89 Marek Čanecky (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
90 Jonas Wilsly (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
91 Petr Klabouch (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
92 Edoardo Sandri (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
93 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
94 Gal Glivar (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:00:11
95 Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
96 Filip Lohinský (Svk) Slovakia
97 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
98 Tomasz Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
99 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
100 Karel Tyrpekl (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
101 Tobias Vančo (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
102 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
103 Marcin Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
104 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
105 Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
106 ŠTefan Nôta (Svk) Slovakia
107 Juraj Karas (Svk) Slovakia
108 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:12
109 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
110 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
111 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
112 Dávid Kaško (Svk) Slovakia
113 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
114 Jan Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín
115 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
116 Simon Nagy (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:13
117 Petr Fiala (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
118 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
119 Corey Davis (USA) Maloja Pushbikers
120 Michal Schlegel (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
121 Andrea Debiasi (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
122 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
123 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
124 Juraj Lajcha (Svk) Slovakia
125 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Marcin Zarebski (Pol) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:14
127 Yuval Ben Moshe (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
128 Karel Camrda (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
129 Tobias Hornstein (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
130 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
131 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
132 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
133 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
134 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Team BikeExchange
135 Jiří Petruš (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:00:15
136 Laurin Von Stetten (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
137 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
138 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash
139 Pavel Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:16
140 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
141 Aljaž Colnar (Slo) Adria Mobil
142 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
143 Ladislav Frolek (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín
144 Martin Gavenda (Svk) Slovakia 0:00:18

General Classification after Prologue :
1 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:01:50
2 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Marceli Boguslawski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:01
4 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
5 Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
7 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:02
8 Frederik Madsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
9 Jason Osborne (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:03
11 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
12 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
13 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
14 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
15 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM
16 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:04
17 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
18 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange
19 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
20 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Riccardo Carretta (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
22 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:05
23 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
24 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
25 Idar Andersen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
26 Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
27 Jan Bárta (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
28 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
29 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
30 Tomáš Bárta (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
31 Jakub Otruba (Cze) Elkov-Kasper 0:00:06
32 Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
33 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
34 Luca Coati (Ita) Team Qhubeka
35 Matúš Štoček (Svk) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
36 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
37 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
38 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation
39 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
40 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
41 Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:07
42 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
43 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
44 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
45 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
46 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
47 Miká Heming (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
48 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
49 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
50 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
51 Samuel Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange
52 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation
53 Danny Van Der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma
54 Adam Ťoupalík (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
55 Savva Novikov (Rus) Equipo Kern Pharma
56 Adam Foltán (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
57 Mattia Garzara (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
58 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
59 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
60 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Team Qhubeka
61 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM 0:00:08
62 Tomáš Kalojíros (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín
63 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
64 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
65 Aljaž Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
66 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team BikeExchange
67 Boštjan Murn (Slo) Adria Mobil
68 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM
69 Stanislav Béreš (Svk) Slovakia
70 Asbjørn Andersen (Den) Team DSM
71 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk
72 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:00:09
73 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil
74 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
75 Samuel Oros (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín
76 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
77 Patrik Tybor (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
78 Dominik Neuman (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
79 Matěj Zahálka (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
80 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
81 Žiga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil
82 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:10
83 Paul Taebling (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
84 Gabriele Petrelli (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
85 Christopher Jensen (Den) Team BikeExchange
86 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation
87 Martin Chren (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
88 Helmut Trettwer (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
89 Marek Čanecky (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
90 Jonas Wilsly (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
91 Petr Klabouch (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
92 Edoardo Sandri (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
93 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
94 Gal Glivar (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:00:11
95 Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo
96 Filip Lohinský (Svk) Slovakia
97 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
98 Tomasz Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
99 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
100 Karel Tyrpekl (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
101 Tobias Vančo (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
102 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
103 Marcin Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
104 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
105 Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
106 ŠTefan Nôta (Svk) Slovakia
107 Juraj Karas (Svk) Slovakia
108 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:12
109 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
110 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
111 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
112 Dávid Kaško (Svk) Slovakia
113 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
114 Jan Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín
115 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
116 Simon Nagy (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:13
117 Petr Fiala (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
118 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk
119 Corey Davis (USA) Maloja Pushbikers
120 Michal Schlegel (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
121 Andrea Debiasi (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
122 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
123 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
124 Juraj Lajcha (Svk) Slovakia
125 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Marcin Zarebski (Pol) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:14
127 Yuval Ben Moshe (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
128 Karel Camrda (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
129 Tobias Hornstein (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
130 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
131 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
132 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
133 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
134 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Team BikeExchange
135 Jiří Petruš (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:00:15
136 Laurin Von Stetten (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
137 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
138 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash
139 Pavel Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Trenčín 0:00:16
140 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
141 Aljaž Colnar (Slo) Adria Mobil
142 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
143 Ladislav Frolek (Svk) Cycling Academy Trenčín
144 Martin Gavenda (Svk) Slovakia 0:00:18