In March 2011, Štybar joined the UCI World Tour team Quick-Step to combine his cyclo-cross career with a career in road cycling.[8] In his first road race with the team,[9] Štybar finished in third place overall at May's Four Days of Dunkirk, having finished in the same position on the race's queen stage which involved several cobbled climbs.[10] He also finished third in the Czech National Road Race Championships the following month.
Štybar during the 2011–12 cyclo-cross season at Zonhoven
In 2013, Štybar came in sixth in Paris–Roubaix. He was in contention for the victory as he was part of the leading trio with Sep Vanmarcke and Fabian Cancellara when he hit a spectator, causing him to slow down to clip in his pedals. He tried to get back to the two leaders, but to no avail.[17] In August, Štybar took the overall victory in the Eneco Tour – part of the UCI World Tour – winning two stages in the process.[5][18] Later that month, Štybar won stage 7 of the Vuelta a España beating world champion Philippe Gilbert in a sprint finish in Mairena del Aljarafe.[19]
In trying to defend his title in the Eneco Tour – where he had also won the second stage[25] – Štybar crashed into the steel barriers in the fourth stage near the finish line and was hospitalised, losing his front upper teeth as a result.[26][27] Upon his return, he complained to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that the same dangerous barriers were used in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.[28] His first victory upon his return was Binche–Chimay–Binche, where he attacked inside of 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) to go on a small cobbled climb after being led out by his teammate Niki Terpstra at the foot of the rise. Štybar had time to celebrate, coming in 2 seconds ahead of John Degenkolb and the charging sprinters.[29]
2015
In his first start of the 2015 season, Štybar finished in third place at the Vuelta a Murcia.[30] Having finished seventh at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,[31] Štybar then won Strade Bianche on his first appearance at the race the following weekend; having been a part of a larger group of leading favourites, Štybar formed part of a trio that battled it out for victory in Siena along with Alejandro Valverde and Greg Van Avermaet, ultimately pulling clear of his rivals as they headed towards the Piazza del Campo.[32][33]
Following his Strade Bianche victory, Štybar finished second in E3 Harelbeke, having unsuccessfully tried to chase down a solo move by Geraint Thomas.[34] At the Tour of Flanders, his false set of front teeth he broke in 2014 rattled loose as he was riding a cobbled climb and he had to take them off. He still managed to finish the race in ninth position.[27] He then finished in second place in Paris–Roubaix, being outsprinted by John Degenkolb at Roubaix Velodrome.[35]
Štybar was named in the start list for the Tour de France,[36] spending a portion of the race inside the top ten places overall. He met success on Stage 6, where he powered away on a short but steep incline situated a few hundred metres before the finish line in Le Havre. He kept Peter Sagan from reaching him, crossing the line with a two-second advantage over the reduced group.[37] He then finished third overall at the Czech Cycling Tour, winning the final stage and the points classification, and finished fifth overall at the Tour of Britain.[38]
2016–2019
Štybar started his 2016 season racing at the Vuelta a Mallorca one-day races, finishing third in the Trofeo Pollença–Port de Andratx.[39] He then finished second in Strade Bianche after being outsprinted by fellow escapee Fabian Cancellara at the finish in Siena.[40] The following week, he won the second stage of Tirreno–Adriatico after a late solo attack, to take the race lead.[41] He held the race lead until the penultimate day,[42] and having entered the final stage in second overall – seven seconds behind race leader Greg Van Avermaet[43] – he ultimately lost five places in the general classification over the final 10.05-kilometre (6.24-mile) individual time trial.[43] He took no further victories for the remainder of the season, recording second-place finishes at both the Czech National Road Race Championships and Binche–Chimay–Binche,[44] and took top-ten results in the Tour of Flanders (eighth) and the Eneco Tour (seventh).[45][46]
Štybar's first start of the 2019 season came at the Volta ao Algarve, where he won the final stage of the race atop the Alto do Malhão,[56] avenging his near miss from the previous year – when he was caught with 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) remaining.[57] He then became the first Czech rider to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, soloing away from a five-rider move around 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) before the finish.[58] Having taken a fourth-place finish at Strade Bianche, Štybar added a third win of the season at the E3 BinckBank Classic, winning a sprint of four riders in Harelbeke, following a leadout from teammate Bob Jungels.[59] Štybar recorded his sixth top-ten finish in seven years at Paris–Roubaix with an eighth-place finish,[60] but he recorded no further victories for the remainder of the season.
After twelve years within the Quick-Step organisation, Štybar joined Team BikeExchange–Jayco – later renamed as Team Jayco–AlUla – on a one-year contract for the 2023 season.[68] Primarily working as a road captain,[68] Štybar recorded his best result in, what would turn out to be, his final start with the team – a podium finish (third place) at the Hong Kong Cyclothon,[5] won by teammate Lukas Pöstlberger. Having completed the road season, Štybar left the team following four starts during the 2023–24 cyclo-cross season.[69][70]
Štybar then competed as a privateer in the 2024 cyclo-cross races,[71] having previously announced that he would retire following the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in February, which were to be held on home soil in Tábor.[72] He finished 3rd in the Czech National Championships, and finished in 31st at the World Championships.[5][73]
Personal life
Štybar is married to Belgian national Ine Vanden Bergh, and the couple have one son.[74]
^Bastiaens, Niels (14 December 2023). "Zdenek Stybar zet deur over afscheid weer op een kier: "Ik koerste twee jaar lang op één been"" [Zdenek Stybar opens the door to farewell again: "I raced on one leg for two years"]. WielerFlits.be (in Dutch). Wielerflits BV. Retrieved 25 March 2024. Vanaf 1 januari moet ik mijn eigen ploeg opstarten. [From January 1st I have to start my own team].