‘Now I’m in Spain chasing numbers on my Garmin’ - How Lukas Kubis turned 36,000km of hard work into a ProTour contract

Although he is accomplished on the road in 2025, racing on asphalt didn't initially appeal as much to Lukáš Kubiš growing up as a young rider in Slovakia, during a time when Peter Sagan was in his pomp.

“First, I started with mountain biking… Peter [Sagan] is a legend in Slovakia. He’s the most famous person there [in Slovakia] … I remember he opened an event, [Detská tour Petra Sagana], and I started racing there," revealed Kubiš.

"Then I joined a junior team, they gave me my first road bike, and I didn’t want to race on the road, so I just put that road bike in my garage and didn’t touch it for a year.”

Kubiš laughed at the memory, with things now quite different, as the 25-year-old now gears up for his second season with the Unibet Rose Rockets after an impressive debut campaign. "Yeah, now I’m sitting here in Spain, and I’m not going for the mountain bike, but chasing the numbers on my Garmin.”

Kubiš first made his mark with the Slovakian Continental team Dukla Banska Bystrica, with whom he spent five enjoyable years, honing his craft and gaining valuable experience from racing across the globe.

Among these included African races such as the Tour du Sénégal in 2021, where he finished 5th on GC, and La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon in 2020. He also won the GC of the Grand Prix Chantal Biya in Cameroon in 2021, racing for the Slovakian national team, winning two stages along the way, and reflected fondly on the experiences.

“I spent five years in the Dukla Banska Bystrica continental team, and it was more like enjoying life, enjoying cycling," said Kubiš.

"I did so many races in Africa, and if there is no cycling, I'm not sure I'd have gone there… but because of cycling, I went, and I’m really grateful for all these experiences because I saw a lot of the world, and it was a really nice experience. I took so many nice and perfect memories from the races, also from the local people, and all the stuff around.”

Despite some success whilst racing for Dukla, Kubiš explained that it was whilst racing for the Czech Continental team Elkov-Kasper in 2024, where he made a significant step up, and he put this down to plenty of hard work and dedication.

“But that year, when I joined Elkov, it became more like professional cycling, or at least on a higher level, because Elkov were also top 5, top 3 in the Conti Euro rankings. After five years in Dukla, everything started in Elkov," said Kubiš.

The Slovakian paid plenty of credit to his former coach at Dukla, acknowledging the massive strides that he was able to take in such a short space of time under his stewardship.

"When I joined Elkov, I was really happy with my former coach, because he made the difference...  He made me go from an average rider to a rider who could win races in only three, four months," explained Kubiš.

You can start to understand more clearly how the Slovakian was able to make this leap when he detailed the extent of his commitment to training and the hours that he was putting in on the bike during this period.

"Especially in that season, let's say, the 2024 season, I did so many hours. We were just focusing on endurance training. So I remember that year I did, like, 35, 36K [thousand kilometres]. So, it was a lot, especially because I jumped, like, more than 200 hours, than what I did in 2023.”

"So that was the big difference, and I remember when I joined the team and the coaches saw the hours that I did in the past year, and they were like, ‘How is this possible?’"

It's fair to say that Kubiš reaped the rewards of his hard work in 2024, impressing on the continental circuit and becoming the Slovakian road race champion. Beyond this came another proud moment of representing his beloved Slovakia at the Olympic Games in Paris, and he left everything on the road, ending the race in 29th place. 

"There were so many races where I was knocking on the door. I also did so many nice results in the [UCI] 1.1 and 2.1 races with the WorldTour teams there as well. But still I missed something" said Kubiš when asked if there was a moment he knew he could step up to the professional ranks full-time.

"I put it all out there at the Paris Olympics, in the Europeans, and also with so many races at the 1.1 and 2.1 level. I did so many results, and they started talking, and they recognised my name. In the end, the offers were there."

Coming from Slovakia, a non-mainstream cycling nation compared to the likes of France and Belgium, Kubiš also acknowledged the added challenge in accomplishing this. "I think for a rider from Eastern Europe, it’s sometimes harder to get into the WorldTour because the sport is less popular over there"

Consistency has become a key aspect for Kubiš; for example, he was the only rider to finish in the top 10 of Omloop Nieuwsblad (6th), Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (9th), and Ename Samyn Classic (10th). He credits this to both his former coach at Elkov and his current one at the Rockets.

“I was really lucky that I could work with that guy, he made that difference, and yeah, he prepared me for all these longer races and hard races really well. Now I’m with the team coach. I'm really grateful to him 'cause he is also such an experienced guy."

"I'm so grateful to him for a whole season, because he found that balance, like, how to hold that really good shape for a whole season. It wasn't just up and down with my shape, but we had a steady shape for a whole year."

2025 saw Kubiš make another significant leap in progression, ending his debut season with the Rockets 60th in the UCI rankings, and defending his national title, among many other impressive results, such as 2nd on GC at the NIBC Tour of Holland amongst strong WorldTour competition.

After his first year racing for a ProTeam and competing regularly against WorldTour sides, Kubiš admitted that it's a whole other league from what he had been used to, having spent those six seasons at the Continental level from 2019 until 2024.

“Coming from conti level, everything was different,” Kubiš stated. “Harder races, longer races. Positioning to the cobbles, to the key sectors – it was way more important. At conti, you just go full gas and then you’re there."

"But now, that level is even higher than it was there, so everybody is on a similar level. So that's why you need to find that balance when you have to push that or when you have to put in that effort, and also where you need to save energy. So I learn a lot of things, especially in these situations," explained Kubiš.

As a team founded only in 2023, the Unibet Rose Rockets are, relatively speaking, still the new kids on the block, and Kubiš explained how respect from the bigger teams had to be earned.

“At the beginning of the year, it was bad,” he laughed. “We had zero respect. But race by race, with the results and the way we raced, they realised we’re not just a small team, we want the biggest results. The respect grew higher and higher. In cycling, first you build respect, then you enjoy it.”

Kubiš has a wide skillset, and in many aspects, is of a similar style of rider to Sagan in the sense that he enjoys the Classics and has a quick finish in the locker. 

"If I have to put myself into a box, I’m a classics rider. I love races when it's really hard, and the weather is difficult. I love it because I’m not that guy who complains when it is raining, I don’t mind it,” laughed Kubiš.

He was also asked how his fast finish influences the way he races. "I love the sprint when the peloton is a bit reduced. I did so many sprints, also this year in a whole peloton and in the end there were nice results."

"But still, after the hard races, I can still push nice numbers, so that’s the difference I think, like when it’s really hard, and the pure sprinters can’t hold the pace all day for that long, and I still can, so then at the end of the race, it is easier for me.”

2026 looks to be another year where the Slovakian will aim to break more ground with his Unibet Rose Rockets teammates, and Domestique also spoke to him about the potential prospect of his team receiving a wildcard to the Tour de France for next season, which you can read here.