1942

12th Tour de Hongrie

World War II could only stop the Tour de Hongrie until 1942, when  the race unexpectedly returned - due to political reasons.
 

In 1940, Italy and Germany assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary with a diktat called 'the Second Vienna Award". Transylvania was historically part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with the majority of the population being Hungarian, but was awarded to Romania after World War I by the Treaty of Trianon (1920). The main focus of the Hungarian politics have been the revision of the decision, and the right-winged Hungarian government found allies in the Axes. For the fascist propaganda, sport became a useful tool to increase its popularity.

For the first time in its history, Tour de Hongrie visited cities outside its current borders. The peloton travelled from Budapest to Oradea, then to Cluj, before finishing in Oradea, while passing the famous "Király-hágó" (Pasul Craiului, "the Gate of Transylvania") twice. 20-year-old Ferenc Barvik (FTC) was the only one starting the race without a derailleur, but still finished first!

Ferenc Barvik (fifth from the right) won the 12th Tour de Hongrie

12th Tour de Hongrie (27-29 June 1942, 580 km)

Stage winners:
Stage 1 (Budapest - Nagyvárad, 280 km): Károly Nótás (Hungarian, Postás)
Stage 2 (Nagyvárad - Kolozsvár, 150 km): István Liszkay (Hungarian, Törekvés)
Stage 3 (Kolozsvár - Nagyvárad, 150 km): János Gyurkovits (Hungarian, WMTK)

General classification:
1. Ferenc Barvik (Hungarian, FTC) 18:26:29
2. Gyula Gere (Hungarian, Postás) 18:26:31 (+0:02)
3. Mihály Irházi (Hungarian, SKE) 18:26:38 (+0:09)

Winner of the Teams Classification: Postás (Hungarian)