Mark Cavendish beats Dylan Groenewegen in the Tour of Hungary, teammate Peter Sagan takes yellow

Mark Cavendish has won the second stage of the Tour of Hungary. The Briton was the fastest in a bunch sprint. He defeated Dylan Groenewegen and Jon Aberasturi. Early escapee Martin Voltr (Pierre Baguette) grabbed enough bonus seconds along the way to take over the yellow jersey from Sam Welsford.

Stage two of the Tour of Hungary went from Tokaj to Kazincbarcika and was a good 162 kilometers long. The stage featured two third-category categorized climbs. These hills offered opportunities for the attackers, but for the biggest favorites for the day’s victory we had to turn to the sprinters again. To take his second victories in a row, Sam Welsford would have to beat Mark Cavendish and Dylan Groenewegen, among others.

Leading group of four
The day’s flight consisted of four riders. Belgian Siebe Deweirdt (Flanders-Baloise) was joined by Zsolt Istlstekker (Epronex – Hungary), Christian Bagatin (MBH Bank Colpack Ballan) and Martin Voltr (Pierre Baguette). The four got a lead of just under three minutes from the peloton, where Jayco AlUla and BORA-hansgrohe shared the work.

The front runners worked well together until the last forty kilometers, but then things became restless at the front. We saw several attacks. It was Bagatin who created a definitive gap on the last categorized slope. Deweirdt tried to cross, but his tank was empty. Istlstekker and Voltr also ran out of energy. However, the latter had collected so many bonus seconds along the way that he could become the new classification leader.

Sprinting in Kazincbarcika
Bagatin held on until nine kilometers before the finish. Then his adventure was over. It would be a bunch sprint, that much was clear. Prior to that sprint we saw some shoulder pushing between Dylan Groenewegen and yellow jersey wearer Sam Welsford. The latter had to brake and was unable to sprint. In the meantime, Mark Cavendish was performed very well by Cees Bol, among others. The Brit then attacked from quite a distance, but managed to hold off the emerging Groenewegen.

For Cavendish it is his second victory of the season. The Briton won a stage in the Tour Colombia earlier this year. This summer he hopes to take his 35th stage victory in the Tour de France and thus become the sole record holder for the number of stage wins in the Tour de France.

Voltr new leader
It was not only Astana Qazaqstan that there was a party afterwards, that was also the case at Pierre Baguette, Peter Sagan’s team. Voltr appeared to have taken enough bonus seconds to take over the yellow jersey from Welsford.