Written by Lokomotíva Zvolen at 09:28 1/12-2023
It was December 26th 2018, almost 5 years ago, when  Drahomír Slovák crossed the finish line in the last stage of Japanese Tour of the Sanreizan. It was raining with a little snow, it was very cold, and Drahomir's mood was as low as it could get with all his body hurting, and goals unfulfilled. His third attempt to win a jersey - and again unsuccessful. In edition 2 he was a complete novice, just finding out what it means to compete against the best. And, unexpectedly, he won the climbing time trial, and ended up second in GC an YC. That was very promising, so for edition 4 he wanted to do more. But the Japanese ground seemed to be cursed for him. He had off-days and crashes, but surprisingly still managed to end up second again. And then in the edition 6 everything went perfect, he won the time trial again, but in the downhill stage he lost concentration just for one second, and it cost him everything as he crashed. He was glad he could finish the tour - this time in 6th place.
Fast forward to the present day, and Drahomir (now 47 years old) is sitting in his VIP chair at the finish line of the last stage of the Japanese tour, and witnesses a mass sprint with legendary Douglas Brasil raising hands as he has been doing for all of his career, now bringing home another sprinter's jersey.
But there also come Drahomir's team members: Stanislav Poliak, who surprisingly won the first stage in a breakaway, and had a shot at SC, but in the sprint finished only 6th, which anyway granted him amazing 2nd place in SC, and 9th place in GC.
Then comes another legend - Gusto Drozd. It was the last race for the 36-years old veteran, who decided to retire after the tour. And it could not be a better farewell than with an amazing 3rd place in a time trial, and a final 6th place in GC.
But then we could see a little tear in the eye of Drahomir, as he watched the new Sanreizan champion coming - Juro Hučko. He listened to the advice Drahomir gave him, and didn't let himself get overwhelmed with all the cameras and journalists around him during the tour. He was there to deliver, and man, he really did. Both jerseys, that Drahomir wanted to get for Lokomotíva for so long, are finally won.
But shortly after the festivities the harsh real world manifested itself again, and 4 riders left the team bus. Gusto, as was said, retired, but went straight to the Lokomotíva's headquarters to become a trainer. Augustín Chára, Martin Kadlec and great Stanislav Poliak went searching for another team. But also the champion Juro Hucko announced that he will use his current top form to win in one last time trial, and then will leave Lokomotíva as well, and very promising Rudolf Bernard will be sold after he finishes his training.
So this is the final chapter of the current book of history of Lokomotíva. Manager Pierre Mrazique said he is very happy that we can end on such a high note. Thank you to the fans for the support, and see you sometimes in the future!
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Comments
It is great to come full circle, even if it is with different riders. Do please come back though!
Thanks, guys! :)
Congrats Pierre and hope to see you soon ! Good luck in what's next to you.
Congrats on this storybook finish! Hope to see you back one day with a new crop of riders!
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