Tour de Hongrie

Groenewegen triumphs in Székesfehérvár

Dutch champion sprinter Dylan Groenewegen of Jayco AlUla has won Stage 4 of the centenary Tour de Hongrie in Székesfehérvár. Harold Martin Lopez kept the yellow jersey.

The last flat stage of the race awaited the 116-strong field of the 46th Tour de Hongrie on 17 May between Tata and Székesfehérvár. The start of Saturday's stage took place on Kossuth Square, where live music and dance performances entertained the crowd. The ribbon was cut by József Michl, Mayor of Tata; Gábor Németh, Deputy Vice President of Foxconn Group; Andrea Frei, Head of Brand and Communications of Cofidis Hungary; and Károly Eisenkrammer, Tour de Hongrie General Director.

The whole stage was characterised by high speed and chaotic weather, with strong winds and rain that came and went, making the stage particularly challenging. The breakaway of the day came after a lengthy battle, with Riccardo Lucca (Karcag Cycling ÉPKAR Team), Louis Sutton (Euskaltel - Euskadi), Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta), Viktor Vandenberghe (Pauwels Sauzen - Cibel Clementines), Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Sander Nistad Stien (Epronex - Hungary) eventually managing to get away. Their lead never exceeded 3 minutes, with the peloton keeping the breakaway under control. Sutton won the day's first two intermediate sprints, while Sevilla won the third category climb of Nadap. Meanwhile, one of the race's top sprinters, Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), was forced to withdraw due to illness.

In the strong winds, the breakaway was caught very early, 30 kilometres from the finish. In the crosswinds between Csákvár and Székesfehérvár, Lidl - Trek, UAE Team Emirates XRG and Jayco AlUla tried to break the group, but the peloton still arrived together in Székesfehérvár. In the city, several riders (including Dina Márton) tried to get away, but in the end all attacks were neutralised by the favourites.

Alexandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates XRG) took the 3 bonus seconds at the final intermediate sprint in the Székesfehérvár circuit, reducing his gap to Harold Martin Lopez (XDS Astana) to 8 seconds in the overall standings. In the final laps, Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen - Cibel Clementines) and János Pelikán (Team United Shipping) tried to escape, but couldn't stay up front.

In the slightly uphill sprint, Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) was the fastest, celebrating his third Tour de Hongrie stage win (Kazincbarcika in 2022, Szentgotthárd in 2023) and his first victory this season. Second was Points Classification leader Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), third was Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl - Trek). With an average speed of 47,5 km/h, this was the second fastest stage in Tour de Hongrie history.

The Yellow Jersey stayed on the shoulders of Harold Martin Lopez (XDS Astana), the Green on Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), the Red on Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders - Baloise) and the White on Bálint Feldhoffer (Team United Shipping).