Leopold König (Sky) continued his remarkable return to form by taking a surprise win at the Czech TT Championships. In a nail-biting duel, he beat four-time defending champion Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18) by just 8 seconds while Petr Vakoc (Etixx-QuickStep) was 49 seconds adrift in third.

After his sixth place in last year's edition of the race, Leopold König was set to play a key role for Mikel Landa in the Giro d'Italia. However, a bad knee injury forced him to miss most of the spring and he had to watch the Italian grand tour from the sidelines.

König made his return to racing at the Tour de Suisse but despite a solid showing, few would have expected him to be a threat to four-time winner Jan Barta at the Czech TT Championships. The quadruple champion recently finished third in the Tour de Slovenie and so has proved to be in outstanding form.

However, König was unfazed by the competition and covered the 50km course in Hudonin ini 1.08.01. That turned out to be 8 seconds faster than Barta who lost his firm grip on the champion's jersey. Petr Vakoc continued his breakthrough season by taking a third consecutive medal as he was 49 seconds behind in third.

The attention now turns to Sunday's road race where Vakoc is the defending champion.