The morning brought pouring rain, but thankfully it cleared right before the start, leaving a heavy, humid atmosphere for the peloton to cut through. The 188 km second stage of the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt started with a demanding categorized climb, where our squad initially hoped to contest the mountain points. However, the sheer raw horsepower of the dominant development squads proved too formidable. Our sports director highlighted that trying to match the raw strength of teams like Visma, Soudal, and Bahrain on the climbs is a losing battle: instead, outsmarting them with tactical experience is our true weapon.
With the humid air giving way to roads that quickly became 90% dry, save for some damp, slick sections under the forest canopies, the squad kept their composure. Máté Endrédi and Barnabás Vas monitored potential breakaway moves without overextending, conserving vital energy for the local finishing laps, especially since Márkó Tóth was fighting through a wave of deep fatigue and not feeling his best. Despite suffering two mid-race punctures that were fortunately sealed instantly by our tubeless sealant, the plan to deliver Erik Fetter to the line went flawlessly.
Michal Schuran did an immense job guiding Erik into the technical final kilometers, leaving him sitting pretty in third or fourth wheel. Erik launched himself into the final turn in prime position, but pure heartbreak followed. While Henry Hobbs of Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development swept through to claim the stage victory at an average speed of 45 km/h, two riders directly ahead of Erik collapsed in the final corner. With no room to escape at such high speed, Erik went over them. Though furious and deeply disappointed to miss out on what our staff firmly believes would have been a guaranteed podium or victory, Erik escaped serious injury, walking away with just a scraped right arm from the roadside barriers.
Erik’s near-miss at the line
“I managed to turn in first place at the most important moment in today’s finale. Here there were still about 400 meters left to the finish, but unfortunately the camera motorcycle held me up a bit, so I lost speed, and in a left turn after a descent going uphill, a few people were able to overtake me on the inside line. However, despite this, I was in the fight for the podium when 50 meters before the finish, in the last corner, the two riders following the eventual winner crashed in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid them anymore. The pace was very high, so I tumbled over them. It’s annoying because the podium, or maybe even the victory, was very close after such a long and difficult stage.
The team raced very well regardless: we were constantly moving together, and they positioned me great for the finale: it is also thanks to this that I was able to turn in first place at the end.”
Michal’s tactical reflections
“Yesterday I was really disappointed. I think I didn’t warm up properly for that kind of intensity, and with around 1 km to go, my legs completely stopped working even though I was otherwise feeling okay… at least it was a short suffering! 😄
Today I was feeling better, so I was really active in the first hour of the race because I wanted to be in the breakaway. Unfortunately, we missed it…
In the finale, our focus was to put Erik in a good position for the sprint. He was riding really well today, and the plan worked perfectly, but unfortunately, he crashed 80m from the line while sitting in fourth position…
If I wanted to joke, I would say I am really looking forward to Sunday’s finish line so I can finally go home! 😄 But jokes aside, I hope tomorrow will be a safer finish because today was absolutely horrible. I don’t know why they want to kill us all the time, making such crazy and dangerous finishes when there is always an option to just go straight…
Seriously, I am looking forward to Sunday’s stage. It’s going to be hard and more selective, but the level of competition is very high here with all the devo teams coming down from high altitude, simultaneously preparing for the Giro Next Gen.
It would be awesome to race in Czechia tomorrow with the other half of the squad, but at least this tough racing here is great preparation for the Tour of Slovenia and the Nationals, so absolutely no regrets…”
Photo: Márton Sitku
