Tour de Hongrie

Cavendish won in Kazincbarcika!

Astana Qazaqstan superstar Mark Cavendish won the second stage of Tour de Hongrie 2024 between Tokaj and Kazincbarcika. The general classification leader, Sam Welsford had a technical problem and lost the yellow jersey to Martin Voltr.

The second stage of the race started from the Fesztiválkatlan in Tokaj, where Dr. Zsófia Koncz, Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Energy; Dr. Péter Princzinger, President of the Hungarian Cycling Federation and CEO of Visit Balaton 365, the sponsor of the yellow jersey; György Posta, Mayor of Tokaj and stage patron; and general director Károly Eisenkrammer cut the starting ribbon. The stage, which included short climbs but was flat overall, had 117 riders taking part. Following a crash on the opening day, Sebastian Kolze Changizi (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Campbell Stewart (Jayco AlUla) did not start.

The day's breakaways included Zsolt Istlstekker (Epronex - Hungary), Christian Bagatin (MBH Bank Colpack Ballan), Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders - Baloise) and Martin Voltr (Pierre Baguette) in the red jersey. The latter scored a total of 8 bonus seconds and, with a deficit of only 3 before the stage, took a virtual lead in the overall standings. The first GPM of the day was won by Deweirdt in Erdőbénye, who finished second behind Bagatin in Tardona to take the mountain jersey.

Bagatin stayed solo in front after the steep climb of Tardona, but was caught later on. In the final kilometre, Astana made a perfect leadout and Mark Cavendish rewarded the work of his teammates with a spectacular victory. Second was Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), third Jon Aberasturi (Euskaltel - Euskadi). As GC leader Sam Welsford had a mechanical problem in the last corner, he lost the overall lead to Martin Voltr. Groenewegen was subsequently given a 10-second penalty and a 20% points deduction for obstructing the sprint of another rider, but was able to retain his second place in the stage.

In addition to the yellow jersey, Voltr also took the lead of the points classification. The white jersey changed hands inside Team Epronex: with today's bonus seconds, Zsolt Istlstekker got it from Balázs Rózsa.