Ärm Wins Opening Stage as Energus Shine at Okolo jižních Čech

SCOM · Born from Racing Press Release
Rait Ärm (Energus Cycling Team) celebrating at Okolo jižních Čech 2026
SOUTH BOHEMIA, Czech Republic — September 6, 2026 · Photo: Energus Cycling Team

Ärm Wins Opening Stage as Energus Shine at Okolo jižních Čech

Rait Ärm sprinted to victory on the opening stage of Okolo jižních Čech / Tour of South Bohemia (UCI 2.2), putting Energus at the front of the four-day Czech stage race from day one.

Ärm won the 197 km opener from Třeboň to Studená on September 3, finishing ahead of Nicola Schleuniger and Maximilian Kerl in a bunch sprint. Energus closed the race with another double top-ten on the final stage from Trhové Sviny to Jindřichův Hradec — Mārtiņš Pluto 6th and Ärm 9th, both in the same time as stage winner Barnabás Vas.

On the final general classification, 21-year-old Heorhii Antonenko led the team home in 41st place — the best-placed Energus rider and a strong U23 result across 625 km of rolling South Bohemian roads — with Ärm 54th, Pluto 59th and Rokas Kmieliauskas 63rd. The race was won overall by Mateusz Gajdulewicz (ATT Investments), as Energus raced against 26 teams from 15 nations.

The engineering read. A stage win and two top-ten finales from the same SCOM wheelset — Ärm’s opening-day sprint victory and Pluto’s 6th in the closing gallop both came from the deep-section rims that have carried Energus to a 13-win season.
About this partnership. SCOM and VOSO share one engineering house — VOSO, training to race; SCOM, the extreme. Two decades of carbon wheel manufacturing heritage, one factory, two calibrations: VOSO builds the full ladder from entry-level training to race-ready wheels, while SCOM pushes that same DNA to the extreme, proven on the podiums of eight UCI Continental teams.