Team Novo Nordisk look to make an impact at Czech Tour

11 August 2026

Stage racing continues for the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team this week at the Czech Tour, a four-day UCI ProSeries race running from August 13 to 16, starting in Prague and finishing atop the challenging summit of Pustevny.

The 2026 edition covers 650km across four stages, opening with a 163.2km hilly day from Prague’s Vítězné náměstí to Karlovy Vary, before stage two takes the race 156km from Mladá Boleslav to Ještěd. Stage three is the queen stage — 170.9km from Pardubice to Dlouhé stráně — before the race concludes with the summit finish at Pustevny on August 16. With punchy climbs throughout and two summit finishes, the parcours is a world away from the sprint-heavy racing of the recent Tour of Denmark and should suit Team Novo Nordisk’s more versatile riders.

Italian Filippo Ridolfo will lead the team after excelling at the Tour of Denmark, with compatriot Antonio Polga in support. The return of experienced climber David Lozano is a particularly welcome boost for Team Novo Nordisk, the Spaniard bringing a wealth of knowledge to a squad that also features French climber Lucas Dauge, Belgian Quinten De Graeve and Manxman Sam Brand.

“The Czech Tour is a fantastic opportunity for us to continue the positive form we showed recently in Denmark,” said General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “Once again we will enjoy great support from our partners Novo Nordisk, showing that the impact our riders have on the global diabetes community is significant. The characteristics of the parcours are very different to Denmark, with more climbs and punchy finishes where we will be looking to the experience of David to come through and work together with Filippo to achieve the best result possible.”

Adding further excitement to the week, TNN development team rider Hayden Stevens steps up for his first stagiaire role with the senior pros. “We have young Australian Hayden Stevens stepping up from the development team,” added Davidenko. “It continues to be important for us to give our young riders the chance to gain experience and show what they can do.”

For Lozano, now 37, the Czech Tour represents a welcome return to racing after a period away from competition — and with it comes the responsibility of mentoring the next generation. “It is always nice to help and to show the guys that not only watts per kilo and grams per hour are important,” he said. “It is also important to show commitment, how to work together and become a good teammate — something that only experience and learning gives you. I’ve always been guided by other riders and people, and being the one others look up to is a responsibility I enjoy.”

With one eye firmly on the second half of the season, Lozano is eager to get back to racing. “It’s been a while since I pinned a number on,” he concluded. “But I’m looking forward to racing again and getting some speed back in the legs. I’m feeling quite good — but training is always different to racing, so we will see how the body responds.”

Team Novo Nordisk at the Czech Tour, 13th – 16th August:

Sam Brand (GBR, 35)

Quinten De Graeve (BEL, 25)

Lucas Dauge (FR, 29)

David Lozano (ESP, 37)

Antonio Polga (IT, 27)

Filippo Ridolfo (IT, 24)

Hayden Stevens (AUS, 18)

Stages:

Thursday 13th August, Stage 1: Prague – Karlovy Vary, 163,2km

Friday 14th August, Stage 2: Miladá Boleslav – Ještěd, 156km

Saturday 15th August, Stage 3: Pardubice – Dlouhé stráně, 170.9km