Sam Welsford takes revenge with stage victory in Hungary, crashes mar mass sprint

The first stage of the 2024 Tour of Hungary was won by Sam Welsford after a chaotic final phase. After more than 166 kilometers he was the fastest in the bunch sprint in the streets of Hajdúszoboszlo. The sprint was shocked by several serious falls. Welsford stayed out of trouble and won, ahead of Samuel Quaranta (MBH Bank Colpack Ballan) and Jakub Mareczko (Corratec-Vini Fantini).

The first stage of the Tour of Hungary took place in the east of Hungary. The riders found virtually no obstacles on the road between Karcag and Hajdúszoboszlo. Three laps awaited at the finish on a circuit of about 20 kilometers. The first leader’s jersey of the race would most likely go to a sprinter.

Four front runners colored the race from the start. Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the best-known name, because in addition to the Basque, Balazs Rózsa (Epronex-Hungary), Martin Voltr (Pierre Baguette Cycling) and Viktor Filutás (National selection Hungary) were also in the break of the day. They were more than two minutes ahead of Astana Qazaqstan of Mark Cavendish and Jayco AlUla of Dylan Groenewegen.

There was bad luck in the peloton for Peter Sagan, as the world-famous Slovak from the small Pierre Baguette team crashed in the opening hour. Fortunately he was able to continue on his way. Nothing stood in the way of a bunch sprint in Hajdúszoboszlo. The four leaders reached the local circuit with a lead, but the cooperation was not good.

Voltr continued solo at 38 kilometers from the finish. He was given some space, but in the final lap the pace increased and the Czech was caught. His teammate Peter Sagan then suffered a flat tire in the final, but he was still able to return.

Crashes mar the bunch sprint
In the bunch sprint, Cavendish was well dropped in the last kilometer, but the Briton could not finish in the final straight line. It became a chaotic sprint in which several crashes occurred at high speed. Like a jack of all trades, Sam Welsford emerged as the winner. The Australian was recently passed over by BORA-hansgrohe for the Giro d’Italia and will therefore see this as revenge for his non-selection.

Two Italians completed the top 3 behind Welsford: Samuel Quaranta (MBH Bank Colpack Ballan) and Jakub Mareczko (Corratec-Vini Fantini) finished second and third. Nicklas Pedersen gave Tour de Tietema-Unibet a fourth place, Cavendish finished sixth. Jarne Van de Paar was the first Belgian in tenth place. Dylan Groenewegen fell outside the top 10 after he had to avoid a fall.