The GP Vorarlberg saw us in a breakaway for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, a crash by János Pelikán on one of the descents in the final laps impacted our hopes. We finished fourth overall and also won the points classification.
The captain of Team United Shipping was Erik Fetter, but we could also trust in the abilities of Bálint Feldhoffer. The team included János Pelikán, Zétény Szijártó, Zsombor Palumby, Máté Endrédi, and Michal Schuran as well.
GP Vorarlberg is a one-day race on the UCI Europe Tour calendar in the westernmost province of Austria, Vorarlberg. Two circular courses were created on the 163-kilometer route, which included more than 2400 meters of elevation gain – it was quite a difficult course.
The breakaway of the day consisted of 5 riders, including János Pelikán – the doyen – from our team. Alongside him were Gregor Stadlbauer and Josef Dirnbauer from Team Schwingshandl, the Slovenian Jaka Marolt from Factor Racing, and the Czech Štěpán Zahálka from Elkov – Kasper.
The breakaway formed with some effort. János only varied his pace due to the mountain and the sprint points. This initially became a group of two, then a group of five. When the TV broadcast began, they had a four and a half minute advantage over the peloton, which was led by ATT Investments. First, Zahálka dropped back due to a puncture. Later, Stadlbauer broke away from the group in the initial meters of one of the climbs. With 34 kilometers to go, three riders remained in front.
The second circuit began with 20 kilometers to go, and the three still had a 2-minute advantage. With 19 kilometers to go, Marolt attacked the others, and after that, Dirnbauer also moved away from János. The first descent of the final circuit looked particularly technical, and unfortunately, János was the first to crash, slipping in one of the corners. János was able to continue the race, but with this fall, the chance of victory was gone.
Meanwhile, the peloton changed its pace. We could see Erik Fetter several times at the front, but in the end, it was the Swiss rider Colin Stüssi who attacked and started to chase Marolt and Dirnbauer. The final kilometers focused on Stüssi, who caught Dirnbauer, but Jaka Marolt remained out of reach. The 19-year-old Slovenian won his first UCI race, with Stüssi second.
The bunch sprint was won by the Polish Marcin Budziński from ATT Investments, but our Czech rider, Michal Schuran, came in fourth, losing to Budziński by a small margin. We did have one victory, though: János Pelikán won the combined mountain and points competition!
János Pelikán after the race:
“We discussed before the day that everyone could try to go for the breakaway, except Erik and Bálint. In the second lap, I attacked on the ascent because I wanted to go for the points. Initially, only one person came with me, but I said to him, ‘Let’s go.’ For a long time, our advantage was only around 50 seconds, but then, 1 or 2 laps later, three other guys joined us, and we worked really well together; there was no laziness. Before the second lap, it seemed to me that if I could climb well, then the podium was achievable. The Slovenian guy decided to attack, and he did it skillfully. Yes, on the descent, I slipped, but it didn’t affect anything.”
Michal Schuran after the race:
“At the beginning of the race, I tried to go for the breakaway with János, but János was more clever. Then I rested in the bunch. We knew that the second circuit was very difficult and that there weren’t any flat sections. After the first climb, we were only 30-35 riders. There were a lot of attacks on the last climb. I basically wanted to help Erik and Bálint, but Erik launched an attack, and Bálint wasn’t in his best shape. I tried to ride as quickly as possible but still got stuck in the second group. Then I took as many risks as I could on the descent. Fortunately, the group ahead of me started to hesitate, so I caught them 500 meters before the finish. I started the sprint 170 meters from the line; Budziński and I were neck and neck, but he was stronger in the last 50 meters. Obviously, I would have been happy with the podium, but I am glad with the performance, and my form will improve as the Tour de Hongrie approaches.”
