The high-stakes drama of the National Championship campaign saw Team United Shipping launch a magnificent tactical masterclass across multiple European borders, stretching from late spring into the sizzling depths of June. Facing extreme weather conditions and elite opposition, our riders consistently found the winning formula. The campaign opened in late May at the Serbian U23 Road Race and corresponding time trial, where Rastko Nikačević secured a dominant double victory for Team United Shipping by flawlessly anchoring the field and dropping his breakaway companions. The momentum carried into mid-June at the Hungarian Men U23 Road Race, where Márkó Tóth fought through severe dehydration in a selective 12-man move to capture a brave second-place finish behind Zsombor Takács of the MBH Bank Colpack Ballan team.
By late June, the Elite block took center stage under a punishing sun. At the Serbian Men Elite Road Race, held on a legendary 50-year-old circuit, Veljko Stojnić of Team United Shipping executed a relentless tactical game plan, unleashing a devastating mid-race acceleration to secure a magnificent solo triumph. Simultaneously, at the Greek Men Elite Road Race, Nikiforos Arvanitou of Team United Shipping countered intense exhaustion with a brutal, full-gas surge on the final steep climb, riding away for a dominant 15-kilometer solo victory. Northward at the Czech Men Elite Road Race, a melting asphalt surface forced race officials to shorten the race by one lap, where Tomas Přidal of Team United Shipping matched WorldTour tempo to secure a stellar second-place finish behind race winner Mathias Vacek of the Lidl-Trek team. Finally, in the home furnace of the Hungarian Men Elite Time Trial, defending champion János Pelikán claimed a strong second place behind the fastest rider of the MBH Bank Colpack Ballan squad, before completing the team’s historic campaign with a fighting third place in the road race.
Veljko’s masterclass on the historic tarmac
We have this course every year: it’s an old race track where races have been happening for the last 50 years! 😄
I was hoping to win again, but I wasn’t completely sure about it because you never know how it’s going to play out at Nationals. With Rajovic and the others, we knew we had to attack and play our cards right.
Rastko was incredibly helpful because he acted as an anchor at the back, refusing to work with the others. It played out perfectly for us; I was able to gain time on Rajovic and felt quite comfortable in the breakaway, knowing I had a 99% chance of winning. Mihajlo was also helping us, we were all working together. If he had gone in a breakaway, I would have sat at the back and not worked either. We are coming from the same club and train together every day, and I think he deserves a win too.
I started out in an early breakaway of five riders. Then, I attacked around kilometer 55, leaving three of us working together. At that point, Rajovic was 50 seconds behind us, so I had to get rid of the weaker riders who were actually slowing us down. I attacked once again with five laps to go (~25km) and rode away alone for a solo victory.
Rastko’s flawless double and anchor role
It was quite hard because I was in the breakaway the entire race with one other guy. We pushed all day, but in the end, I was able to drop him and take a solo win.
I’m really satisfied with my progress because I only started cycling three years ago, so I have to be happy with that. Racing in the Elite category has definitely helped me develop, that’s for sure.
I don’t have many TTs during the year, so the RR is my primary focus, but I’m starting to really like time trialing.
There’s a big difference between U23 and Elite races, but I’m happy we could execute the plan, with Veljko taking the win in the RR. It was really interesting to see where I sit among the older riders.
Niki’s full-gas climb to the beach
To be honest, I was not feeling my best in the days leading up to the National Championship. After Slovenia, I felt quite exhausted and was a bit worried about it. During the first few laps, the feeling certainly wasn’t great.
The plan was to send Drakos into the breakaway while I stayed in the group to save my legs for the finish. Drakos got caught by a small group on the last lap, and then, leading up to the final climb, we launched a few attacks to test our opponents. On the last climb, I went full gas on the steep section and dropped everyone. In the end, I did a 15km solo effort and won with a gap of almost one minute.
Now I’m going to rest a bit. It has been a really busy season so far, with a lot of travel and successful races. I need to reset a little to keep this good season going. For my rest, I’m heading to the beach to do some swimming and snorkeling! 🤿 Haha.
Tomas matching the WorldTour tempo on melting roads
Yes, I’m very happy with this result, even though it’s not a win. Vacek was just too strong. I think it’s a combination of many things; for example, he has done many more of these long races at a higher tempo. The WorldTour is simply another level in every aspect, so even though I had a good day, it wasn’t quite enough.
The race started out flat, and then when we approached the first climb, Vacek set a very high pace which left just eight riders at the front. It was a good situation for everybody, so we worked together very well and kept gaining time. Then, another major selection happened on the fifth lap. After that, it was just three Czech riders and Lukáš Kubiš (Slovakian) left. On the next lap, Vacek accelerated again and it was down to just the two of us.
That was lap number six, and at the top, the jury decided to shorten the race by one lap because of the road conditions, the asphalt was actually melting in the heat! We kept working together, or at least I was trying to do my best, while Vacek did most of the work. Then, on the final climb, he dropped me. From there, I just went full gas alone and fortunately secured second place.
Márkó’s gritty battle against dehydration
Basically, the great heat was the biggest opponent in this race. We planned a high tempo on the hilly part of the course, and that’s how it turned out: ten or twelve of us broke away here, including all four of us TUS riders. From then on, I only focused on Zsombi (Takács), while the others tried to tire out the group.
Within thirty kilometers, I ran out of water, and no one could bring me any from the car anymore because the attacks were continuous. Zsombi and I broke away, but I quickly ran out of energy since I couldn’t replenish it. At the end, Zsombi attacked, which I couldn’t cover anymore, so I went to the finish line alone. If I could have fueled better in the last thirty minutes, maybe…
János on finding the maximum in the race against the clock
I wouldn’t call second place a disappointment, since the one who was the fastest won. In this performance and position, that’s what was in it today; I gave everything I had, so I am not disappointed at all. Of course, it would have been nice to defend the title, but it didn’t come together this time.
We swapped bikes with Laci Záray back in the winter so that I could ride a Cervélo in the chrono too, similar to the field. There wasn’t much else to it. I hoped the machine would be a bit faster, but that’s how it turned out. If I had known in advance that the beginning of the year would turn out like this and I wouldn’t have the chance to spend so much time on this, I certainly wouldn’t have swapped, but it’s no use dwelling on that now.
I would be very happy if there were more TTs on the race calendar, but unfortunately at this 2 level, and even at the 1 level, a real individual time trial is very rare. I don’t completely understand why this is so, but maybe it’s so that organizers don’t put smaller teams at a disadvantage. In any case, I would love it if they organized more races like this. The European Championships and World Championships are in the plans; I definitely want to ride if there is an opportunity.
János on pacing his way to another national podium
It’s certain that I wasn’t the one who took the National Championships the most seriously in the team, in fact maybe the least. I feel that many people at home perhaps over-stress this race. You could put it as being in the right place at the right time, but that’s exactly how it was discussed before the start. I did my job at the beginning, then the peloton thought this breakaway was good for them, so we made it to the line.
At the end, the battle was only for second place. I didn’t think the others would collapse this much and that I would arrive the best after Bálint, but this was the scenario that unfolded. I rode my own pace before that, and I didn’t really go all-out anywhere. So the rivals collapsed harder, so I was surprised myself that I could be third, but I was very happy about it.
Compared to last year, Sunday turned out better for the team this year, although we were also unlucky there, for example when Bálint was taken out. We worked well together, but of course, I almost only saw András Pakot and Csongor Kardos because they were with me in the breakaway from the very beginning. Andris dropped relatively early, and after that Csongor got a puncture, so he had to roll back to the peloton, where the others naturally didn’t pull much.
Later, teammates were at the front of the peloton a bit more, but I think even that wasn’t necessary, because if the main field had caught up, they would have brought Marci Dina and Attila Valter with them. That wouldn’t have been ideal at all, and then we would almost certainly miss out on the podium. Fortunately, I also had a good day, and I was able to manage this third place, which looking back I think is the maximum we could bring home that day. Maybe if I could handle the finish even better, perhaps I could have finished ahead of Bálint.
Photos: Ivana Davidov, Nassos Triantafyllou, Márton Sitku, Marcell Lippai
