2017

38th Tour de Hongrie

The 2017 Tour de Hongrie brought records in the history of the race, and also "stirred up" a real storm, brought a fierce fight until the last moment, at the end of which a winner from overseas was announced for the first time, Daniel Jaramillo from Colombia. The hero of the 38th competition was the only 18-year-old Barnabás Peák, who finished at the second place in the overall competition with a disadvantage of only two seconds.

We can say that the Tour de Hongrie has never been preceded by such huge expectations as in 2017. Immediately after the 2016 Hungarian Tour, the organizers called a tender for the start and finish locations, and the reaction of the cities exceeded all prior expectations: the ideal locations had to be selected after almost three times oversubscription. The same was the case with the teams that applied: twice as many entries had to be rejected than the organizers could accept. The Hungarian government has also stood by the Tour de Hongrie with all its heart: in a government decision, it has set the goal: within five years, to raise the tournament, which is also of great importance from a tourism point of view, to the leading professional races of the region.

We were afraid that the extremely strong field would overwhelm the Hungarian cyclists, thus we did not expect any great Hungarian performance. In the prologue in Szombathely, the fastest Hungarian, track cycling specialist Sándor Szalontay (winner of the stage in 2016) was overtaken by the Australian world champion Scott Sunderland. A young man from Debrecen, (Hungary), Barnabás Peák was able to stand on the third step of the podium who from that moment played a decisive role in the competition.

The first stage had to be interrupted due to an astonishing storm, but thanks to the organisers’ wise decision no one got injured. In the following days, however, quite a few minor and major falls happened, several cyclists had to be taken to the hospital, luckily they didn't have to deal with anything other than the ’usual’ cycling injuries. After the sprint finishes in Siófok and Cegléd, the fate of the yellow jersey was not decided yet on the Miskolc stage, on the ascent (and descent) of Bükk Mountain, as seven cyclists were able to compete for the final victory in the final stage. In Heroes Square, the Australian Sunderland put the Tour in an unusual frame with its sprint victory, but Jaramillo from Columbia could really celebrate: for the first time in the history of the competition, an overseas cyclist won in the overall. In third place was a still unknown teenage Slovenian talent, a certain Tadej Pogacar...

Barnabás Peák won two jerseys, the white one for the best under-23s and the celeste-green, for the best Hungarian rider just two seconds behind Jaramillo. Noone expected such an outstanding performance from the 18-year-old in such a difficult circuit. The 2017 Tour de Hongrie also set peaks in terms of interest: the six-day sports event was accompanied by live television and internet coverage, hundreds of thousands of people cheered on the Hungarian national tour in front of the screens and next to the track. The first of the five steps of the goal set out in the government decision was achieved...

38th Tour de Hongrie (27 June - 2 July 2017, 751 km)

Stage winners:
Prologue (Szombathely, 1 km, individual time trial): Scott Sunderland (Australian, IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) - in yellow: Sunderland
Stage 1 (Keszthely - Zalaegerszeg, 145 km): Törölve - in yellow: Sunderland
Stage 2 (Velence - Siófok, 138 km): Ziga Jerman (Slovenian, Rog - Ljubljana) - in yellow: Jerman
Stage 3 (Paks - Cegléd, 178 km): Matti Manninen (Finnish, Team FixIT.no) - in yellow: Sunderland
Stage 4 (Karcag - Miskolc, 177 km): Daniel Jaramillo (Colombian, UnitedHealthCare) - in yellow: Jaramillo
Stage 5 (Jászberény - Budapest, 112 km): Scott Sunderland (Australian, IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness)

General Classification:
1. Daniel Jaramillo (Colombian, United Healthcare) 13:53:43
2. Peák Barnabás (Hungarian, Kontent-DKSI) +0:02
3. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenian, Rog-Ljubljana) +0:07
4. Robbie Hucker (Australian, IsoWhey Sports SwissWellness) +0:08
5. Nicholas Dlamini (South African, Dimension Data for Qhubeka) +0:09
6. Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eritrean, Dimension Data for Qhubeka) +0:09
7. Cristian Raileanu (Moldovan, Differdange - Losch) +0:10
8. Patrik Tybor (Slovak, Dukla Banska Bystrica) +0:12
9. Metkel Eyob (Eritrean, Dimension Data for Qhubeka) +0:14
10. Rubén Ramos (Argentine, Tusnad - Drag) +0:15

Winner of the Points Classification for the EUROPCAR Grand Prix:
1. (Green Jersey) Scott Sunderland (Australian, IsoWhey Swiss Wellness) 

Winner of the Mountains Classification for the SLÁGER FM Grand Prix:
1. (Red Jersey) Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eritrean, Dimension Data for Qhubeka)

Winner of the U23 Classification for the BRINGAAKADÉMIA Grand Prix:
1. (White Jersey) Barnabás Peák (Hungarian, Kontent-DKSI)

Best Hungarian Rider for the BIANCHI Grand Prix:
1. (Celeste Jersey) Peák Barnabás (Kontent-DKSI)