Great start to the Kometa in Siofok: six cyclists in the top-20 and Márton Dina, first Hungarian in the general classification
40th Tour of Hungary
Prologue: Siofok-Siofok (4 km CRI)
In the big goal of the season, some very brilliant first pedals. The Kometa Cycling Team started on Tuesday its participation in the Tour of Hungary with an outstanding group performance in the prologue against the clock disputed in Siofok. On four practically flat kilometers, six of the seven riders of the continental team of the Alberto Contador Foundation finished in the top-20, two of them in the top-10. The Italian Antonio Puppio was the best classified, sixth finally, just over three seconds from the time established by the Czech Jan Barta (4:17.30), winner of the stage and first leader of the race. In addition Márton Dina, the last signing of the team, became the first Hungarian cyclist classified in the provisional general classification.
“I have felt very strong since I started competing and I have given everything on the bike. In the straight sections I pushed as hard as I could and I didn’t take any special risks in the turns”, explains the Italian neoprofessional. Puppio was the spearhead of a formidable collective performance in which his compatriot Stefano Oldani finished 10th, 4 seconds later, Gazzoli finished 12th, just over 5 seconds later, the debutant Márton Dina had a great start, finishing 14th, 6th; a very outstanding performance that allowed him to become the country’s first cyclist in the classification. “I am very happy for this performance”, said a Dina who climbed the podium as the first cyclist to wear the white jersey to the best Magyar in the general classification. “We have taken a little pressure off for the next few days”.
Diego Pablo Sevilla (18th, 7 seconds) and Juan Pedro López (20th, 7 seconds) were also very good times. Meritorious the time and the final place of the Andalusian climber, especially because he was one of the first to go out to compete (eighteenth, first of the team). Daniel Viegas, 68th, finished 17 seconds behind Barta. “To start with, we have to admit that it’s not bad at all, especially because the second day has some mountain and it will be a little harder, something more of my terrain”, said a satisfied López.
The start of the Magyar round had substantially changed its layout with respect to last year, when the race had also started in Siofok with a prologue; until the weather accompanied, with a day of radiant sunshine and high temperatures in front of the rainy and cold day of that day. A time of power and strength, a commitment against the clock where you give everything from the first second. “It was really very different, especially for those two very long straights,” says Michele Gazzoli. “We all arrived in good shape”, congratulates Diego Pablo Sevilla. “At the beginning I was told that I had lost another time, quite a bit more, and the truth is that I hadn’t felt so bad”. “It wasn’t the ideal terrain for me, but I’m very happy with how it went at the end”, Stefano Oldani congratulated himself.
“If we had achieved the victory it would have been the best of starts, but the truth is that this start has been really good and leaves us in a very good position for what is to come in the next stages. The guys have been formidable and have shown that they come with a very high motivation. The Tour of Hungary is for us like a Tour de France and we go with the greatest ambition”, considers the director Jesús Hernández.
This Wednesday, the first online stage will connect the towns of Velence and Esztergom after 194 kilometres. The climb to Dobogoko (564 m), which will be faced on two occasions within the last seventy kilometres, emerges as a major obstacle to prevent a pure sprint. A climb that will be crowned for the second time less than twenty kilometres away by the end.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)
