Seventeen-year-old Barbora Bukovská became the Queen of Czech Cycling

Seventeen-year-old Barbora Bukovská has won the King of Cycling poll and is the youngest winner of this prestigious award to date. The talented racer, who is successful in cyclocross and mountain biking, also became only the fifth woman in the history of the poll to achieve overall victory. She received the award at a ceremony in Radotín, Prague.

Women power

Bukovská won in a close battle ahead of Sabina Košárková, a pumptrack and BMX specialist, with road rider Pavel Bittner, last year's winner of the poll, finishing third. Her triumph was determined by an exceptionally successful season, during which she won the title of European Junior Champion and silver at the Cyclo-cross World Championship, as well as bronze medals at the World Championships and the European Mountain Bike Championships. She also did well in the Junior Cyclo-cross World Cup, when she managed to win the home race in Tábor, and in mountain biking, when she won our Nové Město race in front of a packed Vysočina Arena.

In addition to the overall first place, Barbora Bukovská was also awarded the Talent of the Year among women, which only underlines her exceptional position among the upcoming generation of Czech cycling. The King of Cycling poll traditionally evaluates results across all disciplines, and this year Bukovská confirmed that she is one of the greatest hopes of the domestic scene.

Other Czech riders were also awarded

Among the men, the Talent of the Year award went to another prominent young talent in Czech cycling, also a biker and recent overall national champion in cyclo-cross, Kryštof Bažant. The elite five was rounded off by mountain biker Ondřej Cink, who at the age of 34 managed to win the World Cup race in Leogang. The riders on thick tires thus left a significant mark in the poll and represented our sport excellently on a wider cycling scale.

The King of Cycling poll is a traditional and prestigious award in the Czech cycling community. It was first announced in the 1960s and since then it has annually awarded the best Czech cyclists regardless of the discipline – road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, BMX or other sectors. The winner is decided by a vote of the professional public, which evaluates the sports results, performance and importance of the competitor in a given season. That is why the award has great importance among riders and in professional circles. Historical winners include the greatest personalities of Czech cycling, such as Jan Veselý, Svatopluk Henke, Roman Kreuziger or Zdeněk Štybar.

You can see the top of the Czech as well as global mountain bike peloton in the Vysočina Region again in May. The UCI Mountain Bike World Series race will take place on the traditional date of May 21st - 24th.

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