Recovered from a big crash, Pavel Bittner hopes to win Picnic PostNL some much needed points at the Tour de France

If there’s one person on the Picnic PostNL team who should be considered capable of winning a stage at the Tour de France in 2026, it’s definitely Pavel Bittner. The Czech rider won a stage in the Vuelta a España in 2024 and went on to finish in the top ranks, but he’d like to build on that Grand Tour success. IDL Pro Cycling spoke with him at length the day before the Tour de France starts.

Bittner’s run-up to the Tour wasn’t exactly smooth. His last race was way back on May 20, when he took a hard fall in Dunkirk. For a moment, it looked as though he might have to miss the race, but in the end, things still worked out for the boyfriend of EF rider Mirre Knaven, daughter of Dutch cyclist Servais Knaven.

"Yes, really, really bad. To be honest, it feels like I've already won a little bit here. Especially when you consider that I'm coming back from an injury. But I feel 100% ready. I've had a good preparation with three weeks of solid training, so it should go well."

"Yes, it was a pretty cold and rainy day. We were heading into the final stretch, toward the final sprint. I think the road was going up slightly. With about 400 to 350 meters to go, I started my sprint right next to the crowd barriers. There was a small gap behind another rider, but just as I was about to pass him, the gap closed. I crashed right into the crowd barriers and went down.”

"After that, I couldn't stand on my foot anymore and my shoulder was in a lot of pain, so we went with the ambulance. At the hospital, we found out that I also had a deep cut on my foot. As it turned out, that was the biggest—and actually the only—problem; luckily, everything else was okay."

"I had a few stitches. I think two in my ankle ligaments, and my foot was also stitched up quite a bit. I can’t show it in the video, but I think there were six stitches in my foot. (shows the large cut) My foot got pretty swollen for the first two weeks afterward, but after that, the recovery actually went pretty quickly.”

"The ankle ligament was partially torn, but I think the swelling was so severe partly because the cut was so big. Fortunately, while riding my bike, I couldn't really bend my foot downward with the toes. On a bike, you have to pedal that way anyway, so I think that helped with my recovery. Because of that, I was able to start biking again pretty quickly.”

"Yeah, absolutely. I really had no idea how long it would take. The first doctor I spoke to said, 'Yeah, it'll be six weeks before you can start exercising again.' I thought, 'Okay, but the Tour starts in just seven weeks.' That was really close."

But luckily—I think the fall happened on a Wednesday—I was able to start doing exercises that didn’t require me to use my ankle as early as the following Friday. So I did some rowing, used the cross-trainer, and things like that. Four days later, I was able to slowly get back on the bike, first on the stationary bike and then outside. So in the end, it wasn’t as bad as I thought.'

"To be honest, we took a very laid-back approach. We just wanted to make sure we did everything we possibly could. If we made it, that would be great, and if not, oh well. We didn’t want to stress too much about it. But I think it was already clear more than two weeks ago that I would make the cut. Of course, the official roster wasn’t announced until later, but all my training sessions were already geared toward that by then. That’s why I skipped the national championships and events like that, so I could train for this.”

"Well, that's really hard to say. My training stats and how I felt were really good, so that’s a great start. Of course, getting back into the rhythm of racing is a little different, but I can usually race pretty well even without many races under my belt. We’ll see how it goes, but I hope it works out.'

"Yes, I hope so. We can already do a few good rides here. We'll start with the team time trial, which is also good for getting into a rhythm and loosening up our legs a bit. After that, we basically have four days to get ready for the sprint."

"Well, that’s a good one. Ultimately, we have a very strong team here. The goal, in any case, is for the whole team to make it to Paris—that’s our number one goal. It would be great if everyone stayed healthy. And besides that, we’re obviously just going to do our best in the sprints. If, at the end of the Tour, we can look back and say, ‘Okay, we gave it our all and this is the result,’ then I think we can be satisfied.”

"Yes, definitely. I really love Stage 21. I’d love to give it a shot someday on the regular stage to the Champs-Élysées—it’s truly iconic. But I actually don’t mind Mont Ventoux either. I really enjoyed it last year; that’s when I tried my best to help Tobi (Lund Andresen, ed.). He just missed the breakaway at the end because of a small gap, which was a shame, but I thought it was wonderful. Even in the rain—which makes it a bit more technical—and the atmosphere was amazing. This year, the climb is a bit further from the finish, so that might be a bit more favorable for the sprinters. We’ll see.’

"Yeah, I think that’s something you take with you, because it’s really very different. There’s so much media attention, and so many other factors at play. You really have to focus purely on racing and make sure the team takes care of all the other details to make things as easy as possible for you. Ultimately, it’s just a Grand Tour: three weeks of racing where you have to make sure you save as much energy as possible for the next day. But at the end of the day, I’m really looking forward to it, because this is the highest level you can reach in cycling.”

"I actually really love the part with the fans. Sometimes it can get a little overwhelming, of course, but you can't really blame them. For them, it’s the only time they get to see the riders in person, so I don’t get upset easily if someone asks for a water bottle or something like that. It’s just part of the experience."

I especially loved that even fans from the Czech Republic came out to the big climbs. It was incredible last year; you could see a Czech flag every 300 meters. I really thought: How is that possible? I didn’t even know we had so many cycling fans in the Czech Republic! That’s something I’m really looking forward to again: enjoying the show. Those are the kinds of things that stay with you for the rest of your career and your life.'

"It's really huge there. Everyone knows the Tour de France. It's even a little different there than in other countries, because everyone knows the Tour from TV, but they often don't know much about other races. They only know the Tour. So if I were to stop cycling now and someone asked me, ‘You were a cyclist—did you ride the Tour?’, I could at least say ‘yes.’ That’s really cool. It’s really a huge event, and I’m glad that we’ll have three Czech riders at the start this year. That’s also great for the Czech fans who are watching.’

"No, actually, I haven't really thought about it that much. I just wanted to make sure I could prepare as well as possible for the Tour. But to be honest: on the sprint stages themselves, you naturally feel the pressure to perform. But I think you can also channel that pressure into healthy excitement and enthusiasm. I’m just looking forward to competing against the best sprinters in the world and being here.”

No, with the horsepower we have here, I think we can race our own final. Of course, in the first few sprints, we’ll have to see how the other teams are doing and adjust our strategy a bit if necessary. But with the guys we have here, we can do our own thing. Of course, you’ll be watching the competition in the final, but we can do our own thing.

"To be honest: yes. I'd really love to win it in the future—that's one of my career dreams. But first, I want to win a stage. These days, the green jersey requires much more than just sprinting for the finish; you need the support of the entire team for the intermediate sprints. I’d hate to focus entirely on the intermediate sprints and miss out on winning a stage because of it, only to possibly lose that jersey at the end as well. So we have to set the right priorities.”

"I've definitely gained a bit more confidence that I'm among the best sprinters and that I can win sprints. I've been competing in the finals for a while now, and I've come very close to some great results. I haven’t really won anything since the Vuelta, which is a shame, but I believe that success will come again at the right time. On top of that, the support and trust from the team are even greater now than before, and I really appreciate that.'

"I think those two go hand in hand. You gradually get better and better, which boosts your confidence and helps you achieve better results. Of course, you always have to believe in yourself, even when the results aren’t there yet, because otherwise you won’t get there. But good results do confirm that it’s possible to compete against the best sprinters.”