The racing intensified on March 13, 2026, as we continued our dual-front campaign. In Croatia, Stage 1 of the Istrian Spring Trophy took the riders from Poreč to Funtana over 151 kilometers. The day was defined by a blistering average speed of 46 km/h and short bursts of rain. Despite the high pace, Máté Endrédi secured the team’s first Category 3 KOM victory of the race. András Pakot crossed the line as the top finisher for the team in 17th place after a technical finale.
Máté Endrédi:
“Everyone wanted to go into the break today, and at the beginning all team members were actively attacking, but no one managed to get away because the pace was huge throughout, and many riders wanted the jerseys due to the small time gaps from the prologue. I won the first KOM; there was an attack at the bottom of the climb that I was part of. We pulled away nicely with three other riders, and I thought I had a better chance of dropping them with pace than winning a sprint. Two of them dropped, so only two of us remained, and luckily I won the dash. This was my first mountain sprint victory in a UCI race, and I am very happy to have achieved it in such a field. It was good for my confidence to know that I am there among the stronger riders. I told Erik that I got it, and we agreed that we should definitely get the second one for the mountain jersey and that the guys should bring me forward before the next hill; however, the racing really intensified there and I could not start the climb from a good position, so it was almost impossible to score points.
I would not call today’s stage uneventful, the pace was very high and you had to focus on positioning the whole time. There were no long-lived breakaways today.
The atmosphere in the team is very good, and we are looking forward to the rest of the stages. There are big plans and the harmony is perfect.
The feelings were good today, though I was tired after the KOM. Fortunately, I managed to position myself to stay in the front with Erik, Andris, and Luca, but in the last 10 km I was just saving for tomorrow’s stage. I did not have much business being in the finale.”
Cătălin-Luca Câmpean:
Sziasztok!
I didn’t know what to expect from this race and field; anything can happen, and today pretty much every scenario indeed happened. In the end, it all came down to a pretty hectic and fast sprint. The team wasn’t 100% today, but we rode together and did a good job after all. Nothing really special happened during the stage; after a really fast descent, it was all about ‘elbows out’ and fighting to hold your position, which is pretty much the usual here.
I am really happy to start the season this early compared to last year. My training went smoother and my form was shaping up well, but I am not at 100% yet. I got pretty sick before Croatia, so now I’m just building my form back up. By getting the speed into my legs and racing this early, I think my season is going to look more promising this year. Also, I can say I’ve stepped up this year—from being just a domestique to helping the guys in the final kilometers or even having my own chances, which I still need to get used to.
I am not exactly excited about the uphill finish; there is no hiding, I am not a climber! 🙂 But we have some firepower with Erik and Matteoti (Máté), so I will try my best and at least make myself useful.
Being the only non-Hungarian in this race isn’t that bad. I still catch some of the jokes, and the atmosphere with the guys is contagious, so it’s impossible to have a bad time. It’s also a good chance to make some progress with my Hungarian! 😉
Meanwhile, in Greece, Stage 1 of the Tour of Rhodes was a test of endurance. The 154.7-kilometer course around Maritsa resembled a Belgian classic, with dusty roads covered in gravel and pine needles. The team’s health crisis continued, and disaster struck in the final 5 kilometers when Nikiforos Arvanitou, Zétény Szijártó, and Rastko Nikačević were involved in a crash. While Niki managed to chase back to the bunch, he lacked the energy to sprint. Tomáš Přidal successfully finished in the lead group to remain in contention for the overall standings.
Tomáš Přidal:
Unfortunately, I don’t feel well. Even during the race, I felt that something was not right, but I still wanted to give my maximum and try not to lose any time. We’ll see tomorrow how I feel. Today’s race wasn’t very good for us because most of us are sick, and we were not able to race on the hardest parts of the course; nevertheless, we tried our best. In the end, around 4 km to go, Niki, Zétény, and Rastko crashed. Niki made it back to the bunch, but he lost way too much energy and, hence, wasn’t able to sprint.
So, like I said, we’ll see tomorrow if I am even going to start or not. From my point of view, it’s more about surviving than racing, sadly. I’m quite disappointed, but I can’t really do anything about it.
Zétény Szijártó:
My race today was quite good after the illness; the virus knocked us off our feet for a few days, but the prologue and today did not feel bad. However, today, before the finish, I crashed together with Rastko. Unfortunately, I hit myself quite hard and sustained a fairly deep wound, so now the focus is on recovery. This season unfortunately is not starting too well for me here in Greece due to the many problems, but I hope everything will only improve from here. I was happy to come here, I like the place, but unfortunately there were a few complicating factors for us.
Photos: Nassos Triantafyllou / https://www.cyclingphotos.gr/; Márton Sitku / https://www.instagram.com/marchives.raw/
