The peloton rode from Târgu Mureș to Miercurea Ciuc on the final day of the Tour of Szeklerland. The bunch covered nearly 2,000 meters of elevation gain over the 152 kilometer distance.
Before the stage, the question was that our Greek sprinter, Nikiforos Arvanitou, would be able to gain more bonus seconds than the GC leader Dominik Neuman from ATT and take over the lead in the general classification.
Two intermediate sprints were held on the stage, in which a total of 6 bonus seconds were awarded. In these, Nikiforos gained 1 second, while Neuman gained two, so the decision rested on the finale. However, in the final sprint, ATT was more successful. Dominik Neuman won the final stage, and his teammate Banaszek came in second. Nikiforos Arvanitou finished third this time, taking second place in the GC. The Tour of Szeklerland was won by Dominik Neuman. The best Hungarian competition was won by Erik Fetter, and the best young riders GC went to Niki!
Niki after his second place in the GC:
“My initial plan was to get the bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints, then go as hard as I can on the climbs and of course we wanted to win the stage too, to make sure about the GC victory. I knew that Banazsek was going to do the leadout and try to box me out the same way he did on the first intermediate sprint. He did a very good job, I have to admit it. I really wanted to bring the victory home but that’s cycling… It was a good race, we competed as a team and in the end we brought home a great result. I’m new in the team, we are getting to know each other better day by day. I am very thankful for all the work the guys did for me.”
Our trainee Márkó Tóth’s experiences, who made his debut in the colors of Team United Shipping:
“I didn’t really know what to expect. I haven’t competed in this part of Europe yet. I’ve only been with U.C. Monaco in Italian races, which are much less controlled. But here, for the first time in my life, I could experience what it’s like to really race as a team. I really enjoyed wearing this jersey. You could feel how much respect TUS has in the peloton. I knew Erik from before, but everyone was very open towards me. We talked a lot, and in the last few days I got to know everyone really well. I feel like I fulfilled what the team expected from me. I got positive feedback from everyone after the race, which is nice. Now I’m going back, I’ll have a few more races with U.C. Monaco. If everything is fine, I’ll compete in GP Kranj and Tour of South Bohemia with TUS this year. I’m very grateful to the team for the opportunity, I hope we can achieve a lot together in the future.”