Budapest – Budapest (91,8 km)

1 THEUNS Edward (BEL) TREK – SEGAFREDO 1:55:46
2 KOOIJ Olav (NED) JUMBO-VISMA 0:00:00
3 DUPONT Timothy (BEL) BINGOAL PAUWELS SAUCES WB 0:00:00
4 BAUHAUS Phil (GER) BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS 0:00:00
5 MALUCELLI Matteo (ITA) ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI – SIDERMEC 0:00:00
6 MEEUS Jordi (BEL) BORA – HANSGROHE 0:00:00
7 WEEMAES Sasha (BEL) SPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE 0:00:00
8 BARBIER Rudy (FRA) ISRAEL START-UP NATION 0:00:00
9 TEUNISSEN Mike (NED) JUMBO-VISMA 0:00:00
10 AULAR SANABRIA Orluis Alberto (VEN) CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA 0:00:00

Endstand Gesamtwertung
1 HOWSON Damien (AUS) TEAM BIKEEXCHANGE 18:07:10
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

THEUNS WINS THE STAGE AS HOWSON TAKES THE OVERALL

Edward Theuns (Trek–Segafredo) grabbed the fifth and final stage of the Tour de Hongrie on Budapest’s iconic Andrássy Avenue, leading home a whitewash for the WorldTour teams, which captured every single stage as well the general classification of the 42ndedition. The winner of yesterday’s queenstage to Kékestető, yellow jersey Damien Howson (TeamBikeExchange), sealed the overall victory ahead of Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Antonio Tiberi (Trek–Segafredo).117 riders took the start of thefifth and final stage on Budapest’s monumental Hősök tere, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ready to tackle a 92 km pancake-flat course in the streets of the Hungarian capital, which was hosting the finale of the Tour for the first time in four years. The road had already dried up after some morning showers. As soon as the flag dropped, the attacks came thick and fast. Riding alone, Erik Fetter (Eolo–Kometa) was the first man to cross the line on Andrássy Avenue, the most famous thoroughfare in Budapest, at the end of the first of twelve laps of the circuit. The 21-year-old Hungarian, who recovered from a nasty crash on Friday to finish eleventh on Kékestető on Saturday, was soon joined by Italian Manuele Boaro (Astana–Premier Tech), Belgian Jordi Warlop (Sport Vlaanderen–Baloise) and Pole Mateusz Grabis (Voster ATS Team), and together they expanded their lead to 40 seconds by the start of the third lap.Hungarian national champion Viktor Filutas (Giotti Victoria–Savini Due), his fellow countryman Gergő Orosz (Hungarian national team), Italian Mattia Viel (Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec) and Pole Piotr Brożyna (Mazowsze–Serce Polski) jumped from the peloton in an attempt to bridge the gap. The chase group trailed the break by 48 seconds with eight laps to go, followed by the peloton a further 27 seconds back. Jordi Meeus’s Bora–Hansgrohe and Phil Bauhaus’s Bahrain Victorious set the pace at the front of the main group for their leaders, who had already won one and two stages of this year’s Tour de Hongrie, respectively, as did overall leader Damien Howson’s BikeExchange, with the Australian determined to defend the yellow jersey he had seized the day before at the top of Kékestető.Around the halfway point, Warlop claimed the second intermediate sprint ahead of Grabis and Fetter, repeating his exploit from earlier, when he had outsprinted Grabis and Boaro at the first intermediate sprint, 23 km into the stage. The peloton picked up steam and reeled in the chase group with 44 kilometres to go. The Hungarian nationalsquad threw in its lot with the teams toiling away at the front of the bunch, helping to cut the gap to just 20 seconds with four laps to go, at which point the peloton decided to let the breakaway dangle out in front for a bit longer to deter any would-be attackers.34-year-old Boaro, the most experienced rider in the escape, with 11 Grand Tour starts under his belt, went on the offensive before the ninth passage of the finish line, taking the third and final intermediate sprint ahead of Warlop and Grabis. The leadingquartet nursed a 40-second lead with 20 kilometres to go. However, four kilometres later, as the race went over the finish
line for the penultimate time, the peloton surged to within 9 seconds of the breakaway thanks Vini Zabù, who were fighting to propelJakub Mareczko to his first stage win in this year’s edition nine months after scoring a treble in the same race.Boaro put in yet another acceleration in a bid to keep the escapees‘ hopes alive, but they were finally snuffed out by the peloton with 11 kilometres to go. The Italian’s 20-year-old teammate, Kazakh Yevgeniy Fedorov, rolled the dice next. Although the runner-up in last year’s UCI Asia Tour never got more than 5 seconds clear of the peloton, it did earn him the privilege of starting the final lap alone at the front. His gallant effort came to an end 4 kilometres before the line, setting the stage for the expected bunch sprint. Edward Theuns, eighth in the 2017 Paris–Roubaix, came out on top. Trek–Segafredo’s 30-year-old Belgian picked up his ninth career victory, the first in almost two years, ahead of Dutchman Olav Kooij (Jumbo–Visma), a decade younger than him, and fellow countryman Timothy Dupont (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces). Green jersey Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) faltered in fourth placebut sealed his victory in the points classification by a wide margin.The top of the general classification remained unchanged after the final parade, modelled on the Champs-Élysées stage of the Tour de France. Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) wrapped up the42ndedition of the Tour de Hongrie, standing at the pinnacle of the most competitive field in the history of the race, with no fewer than eight WorldTour teams, which took all five stages as well as the three steps of the podium.Howson, third overall last year, claimed his sixth career win and his second overall title, after the 2017 Herald Sun Tour in his home country, Australia. Belgian Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) came in second at 16 seconds back. Third at 24 seconds back, 19-year-old Italian Antonio Tiberi (Trek–Segafredo) posted a breakthrough performance with his first stage race podium finish as a pro rider. Finally, the white jersey for the best Hungarian rider went to 26-year-old János Zsombor Pelikán (Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec) in 23rdplace overall