Gyöngyös-Kékestetö, Saturday, May 15th 2021 – Third on the slopes of Kékestető last year, Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) conquered the “Bluish Mountain” today and claimed victory in stage 4. The Australian now sits in the pole position to take the 42nd Tour de Hongrie, which will come 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 24 seconds separating overall leader Phil Bauhaus
(Bahrain Victorious) from the 100th -placed rider. It was but a mirage, as stage 4 of the race, a
202 kilometre romp to the summit of Kékestető —the highest point of Hungary and the Mátra
mountain range— with an altitude gain of 3,221 metres, was always going to play into the
hands of the climbers. The current maglia rosa of 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 119 riders.
Bauhaus padded his lead in the points classification at the intermediate sprint in Szécsény
after 16 kilometres of racing, edging out Mike Teunissen (Jumbo–Visma), runner-up to the
German in stage 3 yesterday, and Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Start-Up Nation).
It took 30 kilometres 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 kilometre 50, with Kékestető already looming on the
horizon. The finish line on the “Bluish Mountain”, the highest point in Hungary at 1,014 metres
above sea level, was set up just 20 metres 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 category 2 Mátraháza climb, 70 kilometres 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 15 kilometres to go,
Bauhaus eased up, aware that retaining the yellow jersey on such a tough climb 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 12 km 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, 11 kilometres from the line, followed by two DSM riders,
Italian Alberto Dainese (2 seconds) 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 3.5 kilometres to go at
the helm of the lead group, there were only about 50 men left in it. The Spanish Armada
wrought havoc on the group and set the stage for 23-year-old Jhojan García to jump with
2 kilometres to go. The Colombian’s searing attack put him 15 seconds clear of the chasers
going into the final kilometre, only for Howson to counter-attack with 800 metres to go,
overtaking García 300 metres later to claim stage 4 and seize the yellow jersey.
Veteran Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) finished second at 9 seconds, while García had
to settle for fourth place, 19 seconds 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 42nd Tour
de Hongrie and succeed Attila Valter as the winner of the race.
STAGE RESULT
- Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) in 4h55‘50’’
- Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation), at 0‘09’’
- Antonio Tiberi (Trek-Segafredo), at 0’15’’
INDIVIDUAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Damien Howson (Team BikeExchange) in 16h11’24’’
- Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation), at 0‘16’’
- Antonio Tiberi (Trek-Segafredo), at 0’24’’
