Last year, he was one of the sprinters who caught our attention the most, Pavel Bittner, 23 years old, is one of the relatively new names in the group, unafraid to compete with the big sprint names and enjoying every challenge. In 2024, he was the protagonist of an unexpected stage victory at the Vuelta, where he beat big names like Wout Van Aert, a special day when he began to understand that he could perhaps think really big. This year, in an absolutely revolutionary PicNic Postnl team, he is one of the talents to watch, and given what he has already demonstrated, he could make a significant leap forward.

For Bittner, the love for cycling comes from far away, as he tells us, it has always been a family matter that has spanned generations. His paternal grandfather dreamed of becoming a cyclist, often going out on his bike, but with the arrival of military service, he had to scale back his ambitions. His father and uncle, two twin brothers who played in a small local club, also never managed to break out of the Czech Republic. For Pavel, cycling was something natural, a direct continuation of what those who came before him had simply started, and so he took flight. "In my family, everyone was already passionate about cycling, and so I started too. At 10, I joined a small local team and that's where I made my first pedal strokes. In the Czech Republic, it's not easy to cycle, there aren't many structures, and I saw many of my peers give up. Fortunately, I always had my family supporting me. They were the first to believe in me, to understand what I wanted to do, and it's only thanks to them that I could make a difference. As a junior, I started achieving my first results. The Dsm team noticed me, and that's how my adventure with them began," Pavel explained, who is ready to face his fifth year in the World Tour team. As he grew up, his reference point became his compatriot Zdenek Stybar, with whom he shared some races, but when he was a child, his idol was always Peter Sagan. "As a child, I always watched many races on TV, but Peter Sagan was special - he continues - I was always fascinated by his way of racing, his not giving in to anyone and being unbeatable. When he won at the Tour, I would be glued to the television and dream of being like him."

Among the ranks of Team PicNic, Pavel grew step by step, without pressure, but with absolute determination to find his way. First with the development team and then with the main squad, he learned to move in the group and become a leader without fear. Winning a stage of the Vuelta in 2024 was a push towards his dreams, until in 2025 he realized his first: being at the start of the Tour de France. "I can say it was a good 2025, I'm very happy with my results. The only problem, if we want to call it that, is that I never managed to win. I came very close to victory, but I could never take it, and this thing, especially at the end of the season, was becoming quite stressful. Then I tried to see everything as a whole and understood that I should still be very satisfied. Participating in the Tour was beautiful, it's the most important race in the world, everything is so gigantic. Brushing the podium twice was like a small victory for me. Now, however, I want to return to France to win for real. I feel I've grown a lot and want to test myself." Pavel explains, who twice nearly made the stage podium, fighting among the greatest sprinters around. Confronting his opponents doesn't scare him; on the contrary, it motivates him to give his best.

2026 looks like the turning point year for a rider who is making his way among the world's strongest sprinters. During the winter, he worked hard to improve not only in explosiveness but also in holding on short climbs. An incredible motivation pushes him, along with the desire to compete with all those who, on paper, are currently stronger than him. The center of his season will be the Tour de France, where he will return with the clear goal of a stage victory, but first, he will try to do well in one-day races like Paris-Roubaix, which has entered his heart. A few weeks are still missing before Pavel Bittner's debut, but he is already ready to challenge his rivals and start putting the first piece towards his big dream: arriving in Paris with the green jersey, just like his idol Peter Sagan.