Balassagyarmat – Gyöngyös-Kékesteto (202 km)

1 HOWSON Damien (AUS) TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 4:55:50
2 HERMANS Ben (BEL) ISRAEL START-UP NATION 0:00:09
3 TIBERI Antonio (ITA) TREK – SEGAFREDO 0:00:15
4 GARCIA SOSA Jhojan Orlando (COL) CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 0:00:19
5 DE BOD Stefan (RSA) ASTANA – PREMIER TECH 0:00:32
6 HUYS Laurens (BEL) BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 0:00:38
7 CIESLIK Pawel (POL) VOSTER ATS TEAM 0:00:41
8 ROMO OLIVER Javier (ESP) ASTANA – PREMIER TECH 0:00:41
9 COLLEONI Kevin (ITA) TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 0:00:44
10 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago (COL) BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 0:00:46

Gesamtwertung
1 HOWSON Damien (AUS) TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 16:11:24
2 HERMANS Ben (BEL) ISRAEL START-UP NATION 0:00:16
3 TIBERI Antonio (ITA) TREK – SEGAFREDO 0:00:24
4 GARCIA SOSA Jhojan Orlando (COL) CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 0:00:32
5 DE BOD Stefan (RSA) ASTANA – PREMIER TECH 0:00:45
6 HUYS Laurens (BEL) BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 0:00:51
7 CIESLIK Pawel (POL) VOSTER ATS TEAM 0:00:54
8 ROMO OLIVER Javier (ESP) ASTANA – PREMIER TECH 0:00:54
9 COLLEONI Kevin (ITA) TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 0:00:57
10 BUITRAGO SANCHEZ Santiago (COL) BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 0:00:59

HOWSON SETTLES THE SCORE

Third on the slopes of Kékestető last year, Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) conquered the „Bluish Mountain“ today and claimed victory in stage4. The Australian now sits in the pole position to take the 42ndTour de Hongrie, which is coming to an end in the streets of Budapest tomorrow.The first three stages were a real treat for sprinters and failed to make much of an impact on the general classification, with a mere 24seconds separating overall leader Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) from the 100th-placed rider. It was but a mirage, as stage4 of the race, a 202kilometre romp to the summit of Kékestető —the highest point of Hungary and the Mátra mountain range—with an altitude gain of 3,221metres, was always going to play into the hands of the climbers. The current maglia rosaof the Giro d’Italia, Attila Valter, took the spoils here last year.Seven men missed the roll call at the start in Balassagyarmat, the City of the Brave, on the border with Slovakia, including the four riders of the Uno-X team, who were forced to withdraw after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. The other three were Norwegian Asbjørn Andersen (Team DSM), Frenchman Charles Planet (Team Novo Nordisk) and Hungarian Gergely Szarka (Giotti Victoria–Savini Due), leaving the peloton with 119riders.Bauhaus padded his lead in the points classification at the intermediate sprint in Szécsény after 16kilometres of racing, edging out Mike Teunissen (Jumbo–Visma), runner-up to the German in stage3 yesterday, and Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Start-Up Nation).It took 30kilometres for the break of the day to be established. Pole Adrian Kurek (Mazowsze–Serce Polski) was soon joined by Belgian Gilles De Wilde (Sport Vlaanderen–Baloise), fellow Pole Maciej Paterski (Voster ATS Team) and Russian Petr Rikunov (Gazprom–RusVelo). The four men’s advantage peaked at 3′30′′ at kilometre50, with Kékestetőalready looming on the horizon. The finish line on the „Bluish Mountain“, the highest point in Hungary at 1,014metres above sea level, was set up just 20metres below its peak.Both the escapees and the peloton got their first taste of the final climb, except for the last three kilometres, the steepest part of the ascent at an average gradient of 8%. Clad in the red jersey, Paterski wrapped up the mountains classification by taking maximum points at the top of the category2 Mátraháza climb, 70kilometres before the finish, while the main group, led by Bahrain Victorious, trailed by 2′30′′.As the peloton closed to within half a minute of the leading quartet with 15kilometres to go, Bauhaus eased up, aware that retaining the yellow jersey on such a toughclimb was well beyond the capabilities of a rider of his characteristics. Meanwhile, at the front, De Wilde went for broke with a solo move. It was all for naught, as he too was brought back into the fold at
the foot of the final climb, a 12km drag with an average gradient of 5.6%. Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) fired a warning shot by grabbing three bonus seconds at the last intermediate sprint in Mátrafüred, 11kilometres from the line, followed by two DSM riders, Italian Alberto Dainese (2seconds) and Frenchman Romain Combaud (1). Team BikeExchange brought down the hammer for Howson, whose third place on Kékestető last year made him Valter’s heir presumptive.By the time Caja Rural–Seguros RGA took the right turn coming with 3.5kilometres to go at the helm of the lead group, there were only about 50men left in it. The Spanish Armada wrought havoc on the group and set the stage for 23-year-old Jhojan García to jump with 2kilometres to go. The Colombian’s searing attack put him 15seconds clear of the chasers going into the final kilometre, only for Howson to counter-attack with 800metres to go, overtaking García 300metres later to claim stage4 and seize the yellow jersey.Veteran Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) finished second at 9seconds, while García had to settle for fourth place, 19seconds back and four seconds behind 19-year-old Italian Antonio Tiberi (Trek–Segafredo) in third. It was the fifth career win for the 28-year-old Australian. Barring any surprises, he will not have to wait for long to pick up the sixth, as the fifth and final stage, held in the streets of Budapest on Sunday, is tailored to sprinters and unlikely to shake up the general classification. The man from Down Under is now poised to take the 42ndTour de Hongrie and succeed Attila Valter as the winner of the race.