Tour de Hongrie

Lopez won on the top of Kékestető

XDS Astana's Harold Martin Lopez won the Queen Stage of the centenary Tour de Hongrie and took the lead in the General Classification.

Stage 3 of the centenary Tour de Hongrie started from Gödöllő on 16 May. The peloton had to face the highest peak of Hungary, Kékestető (11 km; 5,6%) which looked crucial regarding the fate of the General Classification. The peloton totalled 117 riders, after eight had abandoned the race a day earlier due to crashes.

In front of the Royal Palace of Gödöllő, Dr. György Gémesi, Mayor of Gödöllő; Dr. Balázs Hankó, Minister for Culture and Innovation; Károly Eisenkrammer, Tour de Hongrie General Director; Gergely Kiss, three-time Olympic champion water polo player; Nikoletta Szalmáné Popovits, Head of Product Management of Cofidis Hungary Branch; Veronika Kéri, ultra marathon runner of the city of Gödöllő; and Júlia Máth, "Hope of the Future" award winner student cut the start ribbon.

At the start of the 163-kilometre race, a six-man breakaway group formed, including two Hungarian riders, Zsolt Istlstekker (Epronex - Hungary) and Bendegúz Nagy (Karcag Cycling ÉPKAR Team), joined by Victor Vercouillie (Flanders - Baloise), Umberto Poli (Team Novo Nordisk), Gabriele Raccagni (Polti - VisitMalta) and Michal Schuran (Team United Shipping). The group's lead peaked at 3 minutes, with XDS - Astana keeping the gap under control.

The first two intermediate sprints in Tura and Gyöngyös, as well as the mountain sprint in Mátraháza, were won by Raccagni, who then dropped back to the peloton. From the breakaway, Vercouille held out the longest - caught by the peloton 9 kilometres from the finish.

On the final climb, XDS Astana and Lidl - Trek set the pace, but the first big attack came from Team United Shipping. With 4 kilometres to go, Erik Fetter launched, but was quickly caught by the favourites. Then came the winning move from XDS Astana: Sergio Higuita attacked first and then, as soon as he was caught, his teammate Harold Martin Lopez countered. The Ecuadorian won the stage solo, gave seven seconds to runner-up Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and third Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl - Trek). The best Hungarian was Bálint Feldhoffer (Team United Shipping), who finished seventh, 12 seconds behind the stage winner.

Lopez also took the lead in the General Classification, 11 seconds ahead of Covi. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) kept his lead in the Points Classification, while Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders - Baloise) held on to his first place in the Mountains Classification. The White Jersey for the best Hungarian rider will be on Feldhoffer's shoulders tomorrow.

The Tour de Hongrie will continue on 17 May with a 154-kilometre stage between Tata and Székesfehérvár, with the sprinters expected to battle it out for the stage win.

46th Tour de Hongrie, Stage 3 (Gödöllő - Gyöngyös-Kékestető, 163 km)