American cyclist Riley Sheehan won the opening stage of the Czech Tour, taking the overall leader's jersey after a mass sprint finish in Karlovy Vary on Tuesday.
Sheehan, riding for team NSN, sprinted past Ben Turner and Romet Pajur at the end of the 163-kilometre route from Prague, which took in 2,311 metres of elevation. Turner's Netcompany squad delivered a textbook lead-out, but the British rider was unable to hold off Sheehan in the final metres. Czech rider Dominik Neuman finished sixth.
The 18th edition of the Czech Tour, featuring 18 teams from 30 nations, is being held as a UCI ProSeries event for the first time. The race continues through Sunday with stages finishing at Ještěd, Dlouhé stráně, and Pustevny.