Tour de Hongrie – Etappe 3

Veszprém – Tata (142 km)

1 BAUHAUS Phil (GER) BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 3:17:30
2 TEUNISSEN Mike (NED) JUMBO-VISMA 0:00:00
3 WRIGHT Fred (GBR) BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 0:00:00
4 MARTINELLI Davide (ITA) ASTANA – PREMIER TECH 0:00:00
5 RÄIM Mihkel (EST) MAZOWSZE SERCE POLSKI 0:00:00
6 WARLOP Jordi (BEL) SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 0:00:00
7 DUPONT Timothy (BEL) BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 0:00:00
8 HALVORSEN Kristoffer (NOR) UNO – X PRO CYCLING TEAM 0:00:00
9 PACIONI Luca (ITA) EOLO-KOMETA CYCLING TEAM 0:00:00
10 JONES Taj (AUS) ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY 0:00:00

1 BAUHAUS Phil GER BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 11:15:23
2 MEEUS Jordi BEL BORA- HANSGROHE 00:10
3 STOSZ Patryk POL VOSTER ATS TEAM 00:15
4 PATERSKI Maciej POL VOSTER ATS TEAM 00:16
5 TEUNISSEN Mike NED JUMBO – VISMA 00:18
6 MARECZKO Jakub ITA VI Nl ZABIT 00:18
7 DAINESE Alberto ITA TEAM DSM 00:18
8 BANASZEK Norbert POL MAZOWSZE SERCE POLSKI 00:19
9 WRIGHT Fred GBR BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 00:20
10 PELIKAN Jänos Zsombor HUN ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI – SIDERM 00:20

Shortly after a mass pile-up brought down yellow jersey Jordi Meeus (Bora–Hansgrohe), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) won the bunch sprint that decided stage3 of the Tour de Hongrie in a tumultuous finish in Tata. The German surged in the closing metres to pip Mike Teunissen (Jumbo–Visma) on the line and reclaim the overall lead.As the bunch revved up for stage3 of the Tour de Hongrie, rays of sunshine pierced the clouds above the cobbled streets of Veszprém, the City of Queens, which is set to host the European Capital of Culture in 2023. German Ben Zwiehoff (Bora–Hansgrohe) and Italian Leonardo Marchiori (Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec) missed the roll call and became the first riders to drop out of this edition of the Tour de Hongrie. The 128-strong peloton tucked into the shortest stage of the race, which stretched for 140kilometres and featured two category3 climbs in the first half of the course. Maciej Paterski (Voster ATS Team) padded his lead in the mountains classification after 17kilometres of racing, snapping up the maximum points on offer at the summit of the Hárskút climb (at 584metres, the highest point of the stage) ahead of his teammate and first man to wear the red jersey, Patryk Stosz, and Spaniard Sergio Martín Galán (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA).Local fans turned out in force along the course, gripped by Attila Valter-mania after the reigning champion of the Tour de Hongrie took over the pink jersey in the Giro d’Italia yesterday.Five men jumped from the peloton before the first intermediate sprint in Zirc, 28kilometres intothe stage, where Stosz claimed first place ahead of fellow Pole Norbert Banaszek (Mazowsze–Serce Polski) and Ferenc Szöllősi (Hungarian national team), with Spaniard David Riba Lozano (Novo Nordisk) and Slovenian Aljaž Jarc (Adria Mobil) in tow.Their advantage peaked at three minutes after one hour of racing, at kilometre41, while back in the main group Juraj Sagan (Bora–Hansgrohe) set the pace for his teammate and yellow jersey Jordi Meeus with the help of DSM.At kilometre68, the riders tackled the short but brutal slope leading to the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, perched at the top of the village. Stosz went over the category3 climb in first place despite Lozano putting in a long-range attack in a failed bid to pre-empt the sprint. Now trailing his teammate Paterski by just 2points in the mountains classification, Stosz bade farewell to his four breakaway companions and left them with a margin of 2′25′′.52kilometres into the stage, alarm bells started ringing in the peloton as Israel Start-Up Nation hit the front to form echelons, soon to be joined by Bora–Hansgrohe, Bahrain Victorious and BixeExchange, but the move petered out after a few hundred metres with the main group still intact.
The final intermediate sprint of the day, coming 20kilometres before the line in Oroszlány, sparked a fierce battle among the escapees. Banaszek outsprinted Jarc and Lozano, while Szöllősi was ejected from the back of the group. The leading trio was reeled in too with 10kilometres to go. Yellow jersey JordiMeeus, inexplicably drifting near the back of the peloton at this late time, saw his woes compounded when teammate Rüdiger Selig suffered a puncture.The Belgian started to move up, but it was to no avail, as he got caught up in the mass pile-up that split the peloton on a curve 1.5kilometres from the finish and whittled down the contenders for the stage win to just a dozen. Bahrain Victorious pounced on the opportunity to try and force a split for Fred Wright, but the Englishman faltered as Mike Teunissen (Jumbo–Visma) launched the sprint from afar. The Dutchman seemed to have his first win since the opening stage of the 2019Tour de France in the bag, only to be denied on the line by Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious). The German clawed back one metre ata time before lunging forward at the last possible moment, leaving Teunissen with the impression that he had won the stage. However, the slow-motion replay dispelled any remaining doubts and crowned Bauhaus as the victor 48hours after his first triumph in Kaposvár. He also took back the golden fleece from Meeus ahead of the queen stage of the Tour de Hongrie, which will be decided on the slopes of Kékestető on Saturday.