The longest day of the 2026 Tour de Hongrie took the peloton on a 206 kilometer journey from Szarvas to Paks under a pleasant, sunny sky. While the finish was expected to favor the pure sprinters, the wind and the technical climb in the final kilometer turned the stage into a tactical masterpiece won by Benoit Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates). Our tactical leadership went into the day with a clear mission: get János Pelikán or Márkó Tóth into the breakaway to hunt for the lead in the Hungarian classification. While the peloton refused to give Pelikán an inch of rope, Márkó showed incredible persistence to force his way into the five-man move of the day.
The drama spiked as the race crossed the Danube. The breakaway was caught surprisingly early, just before the final intermediate sprint, which prompted a flurry of counter-attacks. Our staff noted a flawless day mechanically with zero crashes or technical issues, allowing Erik Fetter to launch a daring solo move across the bridge. His attack forced a massive split in the crosswinds, leaving several pre-race favorites behind. Erik eventually joined an elite front group of 10 riders, and although he was caught by the charging pack just 200 meters from the line while sitting in 3rd place, his 21st place finish on the stage was enough to move him to 17th in the general classification. This result officially secures the White Jersey for TUS, marking a massive milestone for the team in this edition.
Erik’s bridge to white
“Well, this was a long stage. The breakaway was difficult to form. The plan was for Jani or Márkó to get into it, but they did not want to let Jani go. Márkó successfully managed to get in.They were caught quite early, which surprised everyone a bit. Really, for the last intermediate sprint, the whole field turned together. We expected Lidl-Trek to try something after that because they are racing with a very attacking spirit here. That is how it happened: I successfully sniffed out the first attempts, but the field reacted to those. Then I thought I would try too: I paced away and I was left alone. I felt I should continue and see what happens because there was a really big crosswind and it was expected that they would try to create some kind of split. This is exactly what happened: there was a crosswind section and a very strong line broke away, which I was able to join. From there, 20 kilometers were left. The cooperation broke down a bit and they started to attack. It was quite difficult to cover the attacks of the world stars, but I always succeeded: even at the last one, I was able to jump to the very front. From then on, we just pushed as hard as we could to fight for the victory. Finally, a few hundred meters before the finish in the corner, the field caught me while I was in a stable third place. It hurts a bit that the Tour de Hongrie podium was so close. Anyway, at the end of the day, the white jersey came to us: the team is strong and tomorrow we will add another layer to it.”
Márkó’s gritty breakaway
“They did not let the breakaway go easily. Máté, Erik, and Jani tried too. Then they finally let ours go. The tempo there was not that bad: it was quite controlled. When our lead was established with the field, the pace was relatively comfortable. Still, the day was very long. The sprints also made the whole thing nervous. I finished 3rd in both sprints. Before the 3rd sprint, they caught us, which we did not expect to happen so early. The two guys who beat me were quite fast: it could have been better, but in hindsight it does not matter. Virtually I took over the white jersey there, but in the end, in the crosswind, I could no longer position myself well and I fell behind after the long day. So the general classification and the white jersey are gone for me this year. Overall, the day was very successful because we were there in the breakaway and finally Erik saved the day. From that point of view, it was also a certain point that if it had been a normal scenario and the field stayed together, the white jersey would have been mine: this way Erik got it and nothing is lost.”
📷Photo: Marcell Lippai
