2018

39th Tour de Hongrie

The strongest Hungarian Tour of all time - up to that point - took place in August 2018. M4Sport broadcast live every day, and television viewers in 195 countries around the world could see daily recaps of the event, which ended with the victory of the Italian Manuel Belletti.

The interest from the teams was appropriate for the 2.1 category, we were also approached by clubs that are regular participants in the world's biggest races, and even the eventual winner was a cyclist who had already won a stage at the Giro d'Italia.

Of course, this required a lot of help. A massive government decision that treats the race not only as a sporting event, but also as an opportunity to develop the country's image, has set achievable goals for the advancement of the Tour de Hongrie and provides adequate resources.

Tour de Hongrie also made great steps forward in the media, as the events could be followed every day during a two-hour live broadcast on the M4Sport channel, and this could give cycling sports a similar boost in Hungary as it did around the world at the end of the 1980s.

It is no coincidence that for the first time in the history of the Tour de Hongrie, such great stars and legendary figures of the sport, like Spanish Alberto Contador, winner of all three Grand Tour, or Italian Ivan Basso, winner of the Giro d'Italia, paid their respects in Hungary, who have their own professional team, they considered their personal presence important in connection with the performance of Polartec - Kometa in Hungary.

The arrival of the "bosses" was made more memorable by the team with a stage victory: Italian Matteo Moschetti was the fastest in Székesfehérvár. Shortly after Tour de Hongrie, he even got a new contract with one of today's strongest teams.

In the six-day-long Hungarian competition, two ProTeams, Italian Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec and Polish CCC Sprandi Polkowice were fighting for victory. After 88 years, an Italian champion was once again inaugurated at the Tour de Hongrie, in the person of Manuel Belletti. He's not just anybody, he's already won a stage at the Giro, but he took his first ever GC victory here.

The Hungarians also performed well, among our professional teams the cyclists of Pannon Cycling Team were among the protagonists every day, first Márton Dina and then Attila Valter were in the fight for the red jersey for the best climber. Our other professional team, Kőbánya Cycling Team, also achieved top 10 results.

39. Tour de Hongrie (14-19 August 2018, 865 km)

Stage winners:
Prologue (Siófok, 3,5 km, individual time-trial): Patrick Schelling (Swiss, Vorarlberg - Santic) - in yellow: Schelling
Stage 1 (Balatonalmádi - Keszthely, 154 km): Manuel Belletti (Italian, Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec) - in yellow: Belletti
Stage 2 (Velence - Székesfehérvár, 190 km): Matteo Moschetti (Italian, Polartec - Kometa) - in yellow: Belletti
Stage 3 (Cegléd - Hajdúszoboszló, 206 km): Andrij Bratascsuk (Ukrainian, Team Novák) - in yellow: Belletti​​​​​​​
Stage 4 (Karcag - Miskolc, 182 km): Nikodemus Holler (German, Bike Aid) - in yellow: Belletti​​​​​​​
Stage 5 (Kazincbarcika - Kazincbarcika, 128 km): Nikodemus Holler (German, Bike Aid) - in yellow: Belletti

General Classification:
1. (in yellow) Manuel Belletti (Italian, Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec) 19:21:07
2. Kamil Malecki (Polish, CCC Spradi Polkowice) +0:27
3. Paolo Toto (Italian, Sangemini - MG.Kvis) +0:28
4. Patrick Schelling (Swiss, Vorarlberg - Santic) +0:31
5. Nikodemus Holler (German, Bike Aid) +0:45
6. Leszek Plucinski (Polish, CCC Spradi Polkowice) +0:51
7. Olekszandr Prevar (Ukrainian, Team Novák) +0:51
8. Adrian Kurek (Polish, CCC Spradi Polkowice) +0:57
9. Fausto Masnada (Italian, Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec) +1:04
10. Matteo Spreafico (Italian, Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec) +1:13

Winner of the Points Classification:
(in the green jersey) Manuel Belletti (Italian, Androni Giocattoli Sidermec)

Winner of the Mountains Classification:
(in the red jersey) Patryk Stosz (lengyel, CCC Sprandi Polkowice)

Best Hungarian Rider:
15. (in the white jersey) Attila Valter (Pannon Cycling Team)