Dylan Groenewegen powered to victory on stage 4 of the Tour de Hongrie with a superb sprint to hold off the competition and take his third win of the season.
The Dutchman finished off a brilliant team effort with a surging sprint in the finale of the 177km stage, which started and finished in Kazincbarcika after a day of rolling terrain in Hungary.
A four-man break was caught inside the final 25km by a charging group which included Groenewegen and his Team BikeExchange-Jayco team-mates, as they looked to capture the win that had eluded them in the previous three stages.
Launching his sprint early, Groenewegen was too strong for his rivals and held firm in a 200-metre drag to the finish, to bounce back from a crash on Stage 2 which only served to strengthen his – and his team-mates’ – determination to leave Hungary with a win under their belt.
The fifth and final stage takes place tomorrow, from Miskolc to Gyöngyös-Kékestető, as the race concludes with a test for the climbers which will shape the final GC.
Dylan Groenewegen – 1st place:
“The legs were really good the whole week but the results were not there, so today we made a new plan. It was a hard final with the two small climbs, and the team did an amazing effort for me. I have no voice because of all the screaming! It was fantastic job and I’m really happy with my team-mates who got me into a great position.
With 200m to go I had really good legs to sprint, I went and I saw nobody.
Today we used everyone. In the last days we mixed things up and got boxed in, and today we had freedom. The whole team was really strong and I could sprint for the win. The speed was really high in the bunch and on the climbs, but I could stay in the bunch and the team got me to the front.
It’s a really important win, it’s been a difficult season, we had two wins with the sprint train already but after that we had a lot of sickness and I also crashed [here], but today we had a bit of luck.”
Tristan Hoffman (Sport Director):
“Dylan was the fastest today. Stage 1, 2 and 3 we really tried hard to get him in a good position to sprint for the win, but every time we failed. but we kept talking, the riders stayed motivated and the staff too, and we said we wouldn’t go home until we won!
In the end it worked today, and it was fantastic. Not just Dylan, but his team-mates too. Today it worked out and it’s a big relief for Dylan and the team because they’ve been working hard for him.”
2022 Tour de Hongrie Stage 4 – Results:
- Dylan Groenewegen (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) 3:59:15
- Fabio Jakobsen s/t
- Rudy Barbier s/t
