2008

35th Tour de Hongrie

Dutch Hans Bloks won Tour de Hongrie in 2008 under bizarre circumstances.

During the second stage of the race, when the peloton headed to Sátoraljaújhely from Balmazújváros, unknown perpatrators stole the route signs near Hajdúnánás. The breakaway turned to the right direction, but everybody else missed. When they figured out the mistake, everybody braked heavily, causing a massive crash involving 30 riders. The breakaway gained 15 minutes on the peloton, which meant that they were the only contenders for GC. Martin Riska won the stage - his fourth in the Tour de Hongrie -, but he couldn't keep up with Bloks during the later stages.

The race visited Slovakia again, with the same stage from Slovenski Novo Mesto to Kosice as last year. Hungarians couldn't get a stage podium this time - the best local rider, Balázs Szórádi finished 10th.

  

35th Tour de Hongrie (22-26 July 2008, 834,3 km)

Stage winners:
Stage 1 (Gyomaendrőd - Gyomaendrőd, 79,2 km): Aaron Deckers (Dutch, Rietveld)
Stage 2 (Balmazújváros - Sátoraljaújhely, 183,7 km): Martin Riska (Slovak, RC Arbö Wels)
Stage 3 (Slovenski Novo Mesto - Kosice, 138 km): Mitja Schlüter (German, Milram Continental)
Stage 4 (Sátoraljaújhely - Bükkszék, 232,2 km): Franz Grassmann (Austrian, RC Arbö Wels)
Stage 5 (Bükkszék - Bükkszentkereszt, 131,6 km): Ferdinand Brückner (Austrian, Austria Denzel Cliff)
Stage 6 (Miskolc - Miskolc, 69,6 km): Mitja Schlüter (German, Milram Continental)

General Classification:
1. Hans Bloks (Dutch, Jo Piels) 20:29:22
2. Vladimir Kerkez (Slovenian, Sava Kranj) +0:16
3. Ivan Stevic (National Team of Serbia) +0:34

Winner of the Teams Classification: National Team of Serbia

Winner of the Points Classification: Aaron Deckers (Dutch, Rietveld)

Winner of the Mountains Classification: Timo Honstein (German, Atlas Personal)