2016

37th Tour de Hongrie

Tour de Hongrie celebrated it's 90th anniversary with another spectacular race - this time, an Estonian celebrated in the end.

The race started with it's shortest stage ever - track cycling specialist Sándor Szalontay won the one-kilometre-long prologue, and took the first leader's jersey for Hungary since Tamás Lengyel in 2005. Mihkel Räim, who finished 2nd in the prologue, took the next stage from the breakaway, and kept the leader's jersey through the race. Räim was very consistent: he finished 7th in Siófok, 5th in Karcag, 4th in Kékestető, and 4th in Budapest. Just like last year, an early breakaway decided the General Classification: Ukrainian Oleksandr Polivoda and Czech Daniel Turek were also on the move in Stage 1, and they've managed to keep their great GC positions on the slopes of the Kékes as well, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The sprinting star of the race was Morroccan Ahmed Amine Galdoune, who won Stage 3 and the Points Classification. The climbing sensation was Räim's teammate, American Chris Butler, who triumphed on Kékestető. The Hungarians on the other hand, had a very difficult race. The best local rider, Balázs Rózsa (Szuper Beton) finished 17th in the General Classification, while the best stage result came from Krisztián Lovassy (Differdange - Losch), who finished 3rd in Budapest.

37th Tour de Hongrie (28 June - 3 July 2016, 740 km)

Stage winners:
Prologue (Szombathely, 1 km, ITT): Sándor Szalontay (Hungarian, Dr. Bátorfi - Agria KTK) - in jellow: Szalontay
Stage 1 (Fertőd - Keszthely, 133 km): Mihkel Räim (Estonian, Cycling Academy Team) - in yellow: Raim
Stage 2 (Keszthely - Siófok, 164 km): Ahmed Amine Galdoune (Morroccan, Delia Gallina Colosio) - in yellow: Raim
Stage 3 (Cegléd - Karcag, 185 km): Gediminas Kaupas (Lithuanian, Differdange - Losch) - in yellow: Raim
Stage 4 (Karcag - Kékestető, 144 km): Chris Butler (American, Cycling Academy Team) - in yellow: Raim
Stage 5 (Gyöngyös - Budapest, 99 km): Rok Korosec (Slovenian, Radenska - Ljubljana)

General Classification:
1. Mihkel Raim (Estonian, Cycling Academy Team) 16:34:50
2. Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukrainian, Kolss-BDC) +0:18
3. Daniel Turek (Czech, Cycling Academy Team) +0:20
4. Gabriel Reguero (Spanish, Team Differdange - Losch) +1:21
5. Rok Korosec (Slovenian, Radenska - Ljubljana) +1:32
6. Adne van Engelen (Dutch, West-Frisia) +3:23
7. Daniel Crista (Romanian, Tusnad Cycling Team) +3:25
8. Adrian Gjolberg (Norwegian, Team FixIT.no) +3:50
9. Devid Tintori (Italian, Team Differdange - Losch) +4:00
10. Asmund Romstad Lövik (Norwegian, Team FixIT.no) +4:06

Winner of the Teams Classification: Cycling Academy Team (Israeli)

Winner of the Points Classification: Ahmed Amine Galdoune (Morroccan, Delia Gallina Colosio)

Winner of the Mountains Classification: Chris Butler (American, Cycling Academy Team)

Winner of the Youth Classification: Ziga Rucigaj (Slovenian, Radenska-Ljubljana)