Zdeněk Štybar

Stybar at the 2011 Cyclo-cross Zonhoven

Štybar was born in Planá u Mariánských Lázní.

Following consecutive second places in 2008 and 2009, Štybar won the 2010 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in his home nation.

In 2011, he won the World championships for a second time.

In March 2011, Stybar joined the UCI World Tour team Quick-Step to combine his cyclo-cross career with a career in road cycling.[2]

In 2012 he pulled off a victory on the road by winning a stage in the Four Days of Dunkirk.

In 2013, Štybar came in sixth in Paris–Roubaix. He was in contention for the victory as he was part of the leading trio with Sep Vanmarcke and Fabian Cancellara when he hit a spectator, causing him to slow down to clip in his pedals. He tried to get back to the two leaders, but to no avail.[3] In August of the same year, Štybar took the overall victory in the Eneco Tour – part of the UCI World Tour – winning two stages in the process.[4] Later that month, Štybar won stage 7 of the 2013 Vuelta a España beating world champion Philippe Gilbert in a sprint finish in Mairena del Aljarafe.[5]

In 2014, Štybar won the World Cyclo-cross championships for a third time in an intense battle with defending world champion Sven Nys.[6]

In trying to defend his title in the 2014 Eneco Tour, Stybar crashed into the steel barriers in the fourth stage near the finish line and had to undergo hospitalization.[7] He broke and lost his front upper teeth in the crash.[8] Upon his return, he complained to the UCI that the same dangerous barriers were used in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.[9] His first victory upon his return was Binche–Chimay–Binche, where he attacked inside two kilometers to go on a small cobbled climb after being led out by his teammate Niki Terpstra at the foot of the rise. Štybar had time to celebrate, coming in 2 seconds before John Degenkolb and the charging sprinters.[10]

Stybar at the 2017 Tour de France

In 2015, Stybar won the Italian Classic Strade Bianche. He also had a good Belgian classics campaign. He finished second in E3 Harelbeke behind Geraint Thomas.[11] At the Tour of Flanders, his false set of front teeth he broke in 2014 rattled loose as he was riding a cobbled climb and he had to take them off. He still managed to finish the race in ninth position.[8] He grabbed second place in Paris–Roubaix, being outsprinted by John Degenkolb at Roubaix Velodrome.[12]

Stybar was named in the start list for the 2015 Tour de France.[13] He met success on Stage 6, where he powered away on a short but steep incline situated a few hundred meters before the finish line in Le Havre. He kept Peter Sagan from reaching him, crossing the line with a two seconds advantage over the reduced group.[14]

Stybar finished second in the 2016 Strade Bianche after being outsprinted by fellow escapee Fabian Cancellara at the finish in Siena. The following week, he won the second stage of the 2016 Tirreno–Adriatico after a late solo attack, to take the race lead.[15] He finished seventh overall in the race.

Stybar finished second behind Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) at the 2017 Paris–Roubaix, in a five man sprint finish in Roubaix Velodrome.[16]

In May 2018, he was named in the startlist for the 2018 Giro d'Italia.[17] In 2019 he once again placed in the top 10 at Paris-Roubaix. He made the top 10 of this Monument of cycling in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.