Wow, an incredible start at the Tour de Hongrie! The first day of the 100-year-old Hongrie launched from Budapest and ended in Győr. A lot happened today! But the main news: the white jersey went to Team United Shipping!
Today was expected to be a sprint stage, but a lot happened before we reached the finish line. For example, we secured the white jersey. At the breakaway of the day there were Siebe Deweirdt, Matteo Ambrosini and Michael Vanthourenhout and our János Pelikán as well.
During the 210-kilometer stage, two intermediate sprints were organized and János won both sprints! The 6 seconds he gained at those sprints meant that after stage 1, János Pelikán is the best Hungarian in the overall standings! From tomorrow, he can wear the white jersey that belongs to the best Hungarian rider!
The breakaway was caught finally in the finish city, Győr. The biggest question of the sprint was who would take the corner 300 meters before the finish line the best. Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe eventually started the flamme rouge in front, but due to the chaos, one of their lead out rider, Danny van Poppel had a gap and no one was able to catch him. Teutenberg and Groenewegen crossed the finish line behind him.
But what is the most important for us: Mihajlo Stolić ended up taking a sensational sixth place! He beat names like Phil Bauhaus or Sam Welsford.
Mihajlo Stolić offered this assessment:
You are in the top 10 with the biggest names of the race. How do you feel about that?
It’s an amazing feeling to be on the same list with such riders. This is my first really serious pro race, and I’m here right after the first stage, I’m very, very happy! Thanks to the team, they did a great job in the last kilometers.
A lead out guy won the stage. Is it a surprise for you?
Yes, it was a little bit of a surprise that van Poppel won. In the end, I just tried to follow the wheels of the best.
The race itself was chaotic. How did you handle this scenario?
I lost positions in the last 800 meters, but then I took the corner well and I started the sprint in about 10th place, and from there I was able to climb up to sixth place.
The words of János Pelikán in the white jersey:
First day and you got the white jersey. Did you get everything?
We haven’t achieved all our goals yet, but yes, it’s a good start and Mihajlo finished 6th – it couldn’t be better!
You caught the breakaway later. Why, what happened?
On route 6, two people went away, and after this the big teams were about to close the doors, but I attacked. I heard that they were shouting to me “Oh my God, the amateur attacked…” They don’t like when someone goes away from the back, but I didn’t care, I knew I would be able to catch up with the breakaway.
Are you going to try the breakaway tomorrow too?
That’s a good question. The goal is definitely to keep the white jersey on Thursday and take it to Kékes, and then hand it over to a teammate.
How does it feel to compete in the Tour de Hongrie again?
Good feelings! Yes, I also remembered that I already took home the white jersey once in 2021, and now we’re here again!
📷 Photos: Jakab Rokob