A whole day in the breakaway, a technical problem at the worst possible moment. We didn’t get a podium finish at the National Championships.
The bunch race of the Hungarian Road Championship was held on the well-known Pannonhalma circuit this year. Team United Shipping’s (TUS) lineup seemed to be the strongest in advance, and TUS was in control at the start of the race.
Erik Fetter attacked at the very beginning, and later in the race he was joined by several riders. On the 6th lap, among others, the white jersey winner of the Tour de Hongrie, Bálint Feldhoffer, Márton Dina, and Zsombor Takács joined the front group. However, despite having two of our top cyclists in the group, Bálint needed a bike change after getting tangled with another rider, and Erik couldn’t join the decisive attack.
The race was won by Márton Dina, who attacked brilliantly. Zsombor Takács was second, and Viktor Filutás was third. Erik Fetter did not finish, and our best rider, Zétény Szijártó, finished 7th.
Team United Shipping was also present at the Czech NC through Michal Schuran, where the riders had to complete an almost 200 km course with more than 2,000 meters of elevation. Unfortunately, Michal had a crash and ended up in 13th place.
Erik Fetter after Pannonhalma:
“The early attack wasn’t really planned, and I wouldn’t even call it an attack. I was thinking of checking out the bunch and I rode away. No one reacted, and I continued the action – I hoped that someone would arrive from behind. This eventually happened later. (…) Bálint (Feldhoffer)’s puncture was very, very bad luck, but I still wouldn’t say that the situation was hopeless, I felt in good shape. But unfortunately we didn’t react to the attack of Marci (Dina) and Zsombi (Takács) – Zétény (Szijártó) was already there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a question of fatigue, it was a mistake not to go with them. (…) Of course we are very disappointed, we arrived to the NC with serious goals. But in road cycling, races can be decided by very small things. Several bad lucks and a small stomach problem also held us back, I had to step aside… We will try to discuss the lessons learned and look forward.”
Michal Schuran on the Czech Championship:
“It was a really hard race from the beginning. Riders from the elite started to attack from the first climb. After 10 kilometers or so we had a big group at the front. I was amongst them, however I wasn’t feeling so well from the beginning. My legs hurt, I had stomach issues as well. The strongest guy was Mathias Vacek; he was pushing at every climb. It was hard to follow him, and after 120 kilometers he dropped me. Definitely not the result I wanted, I am not satisfied, but cycling is sometimes cruel, it is what it is. I hope that for the Tour of Austria I will have better legs.”
📷Photos: Gergely Schöff