Our strong performance continues at the Tour de Hongrie. After being in the breakaway on Friday, Erik Fetter attacked on Kékes, and Bálint Feldhoffer took the white jersey for the best Hungarian rider.
It is proving to be a successful Tour de Hongrie for Team United Shipping, and the positive results continued on Friday. On today’s queen stage between Gödöllő and Kékestető, a breakaway formed quickly, and once again we saw one of our riders in the move: Michal Schuran was among the most active members. The breakaway group also included Rescioli, Vercouillie, Poli, Istlstekker, and Bendehúz Nagy. Michal earned points in two of the three intermediate sprints.
The peloton approached Kékestető with XDS Astana leading the pace, though Lidl-Trek also contributed. Erik Fetter eventually disrupted the rhythm of the main contenders. He attacked near Mátraháza, and we saw the TUS jersey visible at the front for a few minutes before Erik was caught.
Harold Martín López of XDS Astana attacked at the start of the final three kilometers. The Ecuadorian was followed by a larger chasing group which included Bálint Feldhoffer, the sole Hungarian in this selection! Bálint stayed with this group of strong climbers until the last kilometer, where he accelerated to secure seventh place on the stage. Harold Martín López won the stage and took the yellow jersey.
Following the stage, the white jersey for the best Hungarian rider transferred from János Pelikán to Bálint Feldhoffer. Bálint now sits in seventh place in the overall standings heading into the remaining stages of the race.
This is what the TUS climber said:
“Erik (Fetter) came to me during the stage and told me that he wanted to attack on the gentler part, because then maybe there wouldn’t be such a change of pace after Mátraháza, and I think it worked out well. Actually, the pace was high even before Mátraháza, and from then on we went full throttle. I tried not to care about the big guys and just focused on my own racing, trying to distribute my strength as best I could. I think it paid off, because if I had pulled too many times, I would probably get tired sooner. (…) This is important feedback for me, I can be more confident after finishing in the top ten. I have to keep the white jersey until Sunday, but the most important thing is that I am seventh in such a field and maybe I can even move forward in the next stages!”
Erik Fetter after his brave attack:
“I slept well, I was in good shape and calm, but I felt that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the main guys on the last 3 kilometers. So I attacked on a gentler section, I thought I should give myself a chance. We discussed it with Bálint (Feldhoffer). I told him to just watch the opponents and wait until the last corner. We put this together well, Bálint executed it very well. I couldn’t have added anything more to the team’s result today anyway, so I took it back in the last kilometers. There will be another day when I will need to be fresh.”
📷Photos: Jakab Rokob