2. Etappe: Balatonfüred – Nagykanizsa – 183 Km
13.5.2021
1 MEEUS Jordi BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 04:03:55 44,91
2 DAINESE Alberto ITA TEAM DSM 00:00
3 BAUHAUS Phil GER BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
4 KOOIJ Olav NED JUMBO-VISMA 00:00
5 GROVES Kaden AUS TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 00:00
6 BARBIER Rudy FRA ISRAEL START-UP NATION 00:00
7 THEUNS Edward BEL TREK – SEGAFREDO 00:00
8 DUPONT Timothy BEL BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 00:00
9 GONZALEZ LOPEZ David ESP CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 00:00
10 WARLOP Jordi BEL SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 00:00

1 MEEUS Jordi BEL BORA – HANSGROHE 07:58:03
2 BAUHAUS Phil GER BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:00
3 PATERSKI Maciej POL VOSTER ATS TEAM 00:06
4 DAINESE Alberto ITA TEAM DSM 00:08
5 MARECZKO Jakub ITA VINI ZABU‘ 00:08
6 STOSZ Patryk POL VOSTER ATS TEAM 00:08
7 SEVILLA LOPEZ Diego Pablo ESP EOLO-KOMETA CYCLING TEAM 00:08
8 PELIKÁN János Zsombor HUN ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI – SIDERMEC 00:10
9 THEUNS Edward BEL TREK – SEGAFREDO 00:11
10 VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio BEL SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 00:12

Jordi Meeus gewinnt die zweite Etappe der Tour de Hongrie im Sprint

Die zweite Etappe der Tour de Hongrie wurde erneut durch eine Ausreisergruppe geprägt, welche einen Vorsprung von maximal 7 Minuten herausfahren konnte. Auf dem regnerischen Abschnitt entlang des Balatons standen zu Beginn des Rennens zwei Bergwertungen auf dem Programm. Wie am Vortag wurden die Ausreißer auch heute vom Hauptfeld kontrolliert und schließlich wenige Kilometer vor dem Ziel eingeholt, sodass es nach 183 Kilometer zum Massensprint kam. Die BORA-hansgrohe Fahrer konnten ihre Stärke perfekt ausspielen und Jordi Meeus in eine ideale Ausgangsposition für den Sprint bringen. Dieser konnte die Vorarbeit der Kollegen mit einem starken Sprint vollenden und den Etappensieg davontragen. Leider waren aber Patrick Gamper und Ben Zwiehoff in Stürze verwickelt. Letzterer befindet sich mit Verdacht auf Schlüsselbeinbruch im Krankenhaus.

Reaktionen im Ziel
„Erstmal sind wir natürlich mit dem Sieg heute super zufrieden. Juraj ist heute den ganzen Tag von vorne gefahren und hat die Spitzengruppe perfekt kontrolliert. Im Finale ist das Team dann einen tollen Sprint gefahren und Jordi hat alles richtig gemacht und daher verdient gewonnen. Leider waren aber Patrick und Ben in Stürze verwickelt und wir müssen sehen, wie es für sie weitergeht. An dieser Stelle gute Besserung!“ – Steffen Radochla, Sportlicher Leiter

„Vielen Dank an das gesamte Team! Die Jungs haben einen tollen Job gemacht und hatten viel Vertrauen in mich. Heute war unser Timing besser als gestern und ich konnte einen nahezu perfekten Sprint fahren. Ich bin super froh, dass ich die Chance genutzt habe und heute gewinnen konnte. Jetzt ist es unser Ziel in den nächsten Tagen noch eine Etappe zu gewinnen.“ – Jordi Meeus

On a momentous day for Hungarian cycling that saw Attila Valter, the reigning champion of his national tour, take over the pink jersey in the Giro d’Italia, Jordi Meeus (Bora–Hansgrohe) scored a double whammy in stage2 of the Tour de Hongrie by claiming the bunch sprint and seizing the yellow jersey in Nagykanizsa.As in the opening stage, the first drops of rain began to fall on the northern shore of Lake Balaton just as the 130-strong peloton took the neutralised start in the lakeside town of Balatonfüred. Following the 7.7km parade, the 183km stage2 of the Tour de Hongrie got under way at the exit from Aszófő, nestled at the foot of the verdant Balaton-felvidék, or Balaton Uplands. The Hungarian national champion, Viktor Filutás(Giotti Victoria–Savini Due), hit the tarmac in the early moments of the stage. The rolling terrain of the first part of the course was perfect for the formation of a strong breakaway, and a seven-man group detached from the peloton shortly before the topof the Balatonszőlős climb, which came after 13kilometres of racing and, at 384metres, was the highest point of the stage.Pole Maciej Paterski (Voster ATS Team) covered for his teammate Patryk Stosz, who started the day in the best climber’s red jersey, and grabbed top points on the category3 climb, ahead of Sergio Román Martín (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) and another Spaniard, Diego Pablo Sevilla (Eolo–KometaCycling Team), who was in his second breakaway in as many days. Their companions on the road were another Pole, Paweł Bernas (Mazowsze–Serce Polski), Italian Emanuele Onesti (Giotti Victoria–Savini Due), Dane Alexander Kamp (Trek–Segafredo) and Hungarian János Zsombor Pelikán (Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec).The difference surged to 3′45′′ after 25kilometres of racing. The order at the top of the second and final categorised climb of the day, the category3 Vigántpetend, was the same as on the previous ascent, as Paterski outclimbed Martín and Sevilla once more to take over the lead in the mountains classificationfrom his teammate Stosz.Shortly after, their advantage over the peloton peaked at 6′25′′ after covering 42.5km in the first hour of racing, leading a coalition of sprinters‘ teams to contribute one rider each to pacing duties. This cut the difference to5′40′′ near Badacsony, a dormant volcano whose region is known for its dry white wine, and further to 4′10′′ at the halfway point in Tapolca, where Paterski took the first intermediate sprint ahead of Kamp and Pelikán.The gap decreased to just three minutes with 76kilometres to go, near the 13th-century Sümeg Castle, and crashed through the two-minute barrier 55kilometres before the line. Wary of a
premature neutralisation, the peloton eased up a bit and the gap bounced back to 2′30′′ at the second intermediate sprint in Hévíz, where Pelikán beat Paterski and Sevilla for the top spot. 31kilometres before the finish line, as the race went through the Little Balaton, a nature reserve home to over 250species of birds, the peloton spotted its prey again and cut its deficit to just 1′50′′. The third intermediate sprint, taken by Paterski ahead of Bernas in Zalakaros, heralded the disintegration of the escape group, leaving Kamp, Paterski, Bernas and Pelikán alone at the front. The quartet reached the 10km to go mark with a slim 35-second margin. A wave of euphoria swept through the crowd in the finish area and boosted the morale of the breakaway when the speaker announced that local hero and reigning Tour de Hongrie champion Attila Valter had taken pink in the Giro d’Italia. The thought of capping this historic day for his country with a stage win to his name must have surely crossed Pelikán’s mind, but it was not to be. He and his three remaining companions were swallowed up by the peloton with 1.7km to go despite two consecutive crashes in the main group a few seconds earlier.Once again, it all came down to a mass sprint, but unlike yesterday, the final kilometre had an average gradient of 2% that only got worse in the last 200metres. 22-year-old Belgian Jordi Meeus, third in the opening stage, dug deep to beat Italian Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) and yellow jersey Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) by a nose and pick up his maiden win in the colours of Bora–Hansgrohe, which he joined this year. Meeus is also the new overall leader, tied on time with Bauhaus. The rules state that if multiple riders are tied on time andhave the same total of classifications obtained in each stage, as happened today, the lead goes to the top-placed rider in the stage of the day. However, revenge need not be a dish best served cold for Bauhaus, as tomorrow’s stage3 to Tata is also likely to end in a bunch sprint.
@ASO