The 69th edition of Dookoła Mazowsza continued with a demanding 171 km stage starting and finishing right on our doorstep in Teresin, featuring 266 meters of elevation gain and gusty crosswinds. Blessed with convenient logistics just outside our hotel and pleasant weather for most of the day, the stage briefly threatened riders with intermittent afternoon rain showers that slicked the asphalt during the closing circuits. The tactical plan required the team to infiltrate the day’s primary breakaway, especially if a large group of 10 to 15 riders established clear separation, while keeping Márkó Tóth protected for a potential bunch sprint. Early attacks flew from the gun, but when a resilient seven-rider move snapped the elastic in the second lap, our squad unfortunately missed the move. Despite strong attempts by Erik Fetter, Nikolaos Michail Drakos, and Zétény Szijártó to bridge across during subsequent skirmishes, the peloton allowed the gap to stretch out. With zero mechanical issues slowing down our riders, the bunch launched a furious chase across the wind-swept closing laps, narrowing the deficit drastically but running out of real estate just short of the line. Julian Vergouw of Metec – SOLARWATT p/b Mantel claimed the stage victory from the breakaway, while Márkó Tóth crossed the line in 13th place inside the main group.
Zétény’s tactical breakdown
“The breakaway formed roughly in the second lap right around where we anticipated it would go. Erik, Drakos, and I all tried to get into the moves today, but it went clear without us despite a few solid attempts. Afterwards, it was relatively calm in the peloton, but the main sprint teams ultimately failed to reel back the breakaway. In the final kilometer, after the last corner, I told Márkó to go and brought him right up to the very front since he had drifted a bit further back.”
Márkó’s reflections on a missed window
“We missed the breakaway that ultimately went all the way to the finish. They built up too big of an advantage, and even though there was a massive chase from the peloton at the end and we got close, we just could not catch them. In the sprint, I did not take the final corner far enough up front and got boxed in a bit, so I missed out on the top 10. It was not our best day.”
Photo: Marcell Lippai
