It was revealed only during the week that Team United Shipping will be at the Slovak Cup on the weekend, at the Memorial Juraja Farbiaka. They completed a very hilly circuit three times in the race. It was clear that TUS stood out from the peloton in terms of both number and quality.
The TUS guys were active from the start. The initial four man breakaway included Máté Endrédi, who won one of the KOM sprints. Meanwhile, two other TUS guys unluckily crashed in the back: Márkó Tóth and Szabolcs Csáki fell to the ground. The initial breakaway was finally caught, however later an attack that also included Zétény Szijártó was able to go away.
Zétény attacked during the last uphill section, and only the eventual winner Dominik Glazner could keep up with the attack. The Czech started his sprint early, which caught Zétény by surprise, and despite his efforts, was unable to catch him.
Zétény Szijártó about his second place:
“TUS was clearly the strongest team in the race, we also stood out in terms of numbers, and so it was quite different to compete in this environment. We came to the race with winning chances, so everyone was sufficiently motivated, and fortunately I was in good shape, everything went without any problem during the day.
Finally, a five man breakaway formed at the beginning of the second lap, I was included. We worked well together throughout. I went for the sprints and the KOM’s, I won all of them, these results do alleviate the pain of second place a little. At the very end, two of us stayed in the front, after I attacked the others on the last mountain and only the eventual winner was able to follow me. At the finale, I made a mistake because I was not the first to take the U-turn, as the guy started his sprint much earlier than I expected. I was getting close, but after the corner I couldn’t pass him, because the finish line was only about eighty meters from there…”
Zsombor Palumby attacked the peloton at the end:
“We were very active from the start, we were constantly attacking. Finally, Zétény (Szijártó) got into a five man breakaway. There were still a lot of attacks at the back, but no one really tried to chase the breakaway. We just followed the other wheels, we dismantled the attacks. Then in the last lap, on the last hill, we started to attack, because Zétény had a solid advantage. About four kilometers before the end of the hill, I also made a strong attack. I crested the hill alone, but on the gentle 11 kilometer flat, I didn’t think I would last until the finish. I was riding hard to keep the 15-20-second lead as long as I could, because we came here to train and try different situations. I pushed hard, the kilometers were running out and finally I felt that I could get ahead of the chasing group. The last 15 kilometers were tough, but I felt good. It was good to compete again.”