TNN return to Tour de Hongrie for centenary edition.
13 May 2025
The 100th anniversary edition of the Tour de Hongrie begins on Wednesday with Team Novo Nordisk looking forward to being part of a celebratory edition of one of Europe’s oldest stage races that first ran in 1925.
A challenging route over five days of racing covering close to 900km across the Hungarian countryside, starting in the historic capital Budapest and finishing by the stunning Basilica in Esztergom will honor the rich history of the race and the country.
22-year-old Czech fast man Matyas Kopecky is well on the road to recovery after a bout of untimely sickness cut short his recent outing at the Tour of Turkey and is back alongside Italian rouleur Filippo Ridolfo
“We’ are excited to be back racing at the Tour de Hongrie,” said General Manager Vassili Davidenko. “It’s always a special event, but this year marks the 100th anniversary of the race and that will add to the excitement and atmosphere of each stage making for a real spectacle.”
“Every day wil be hard, the competition is always of the highest level, but there’s a couple of opportunities for us there with Matyas and the sprint finales, particularly on the opening day in Budapest. We will of course be aiming to be active in the breaks, and give our young riders the chance to gain experience up against WorldTour competitors – it’s going to be a great five days of racing.”
Promising British neo pro Hamish Armitt is fit again after crashing heavily in Greece in early spring and completes the team alongside compatriot Nathan Smith and Italians Antonio Polga and Umberto Poli.
“It’s good to be training normally again,” said Kopecky. “I lost some days due to sickness and instead of getting better as the race went on in Turkey, I got worse, and it knocked me back, so I am in a much more positive place now mentally and physically.”
“The Tour de Hongrie is always an enjoyable race, tough stages up against top competition and this year will be no different. It will arguably be more special as it’s the centenary and we’re expecting an exciting race. The opening stage should be one for the sprinters and stage four could also suit me with the punchy circuits, we’ll give it our all and see what the racing brings.”
Team Novo Nordisk at the Tour of Hungary, 14th – 18th May:
Hamish Armitt (GBR, 22)
Matyas Kopecky (CZ, 22)
Antonio Polga (IT, 26)
Umberto Poli (IT, 28)
Filippo Ridolfo (IT, 23)
Nathan Smith (GBR, 24)
Stages:
Wednesday 14th May, Stage 1: Budapest – Györ, 210.3km
Thursday 15th May, Stage 2: Veszprém – Siófok, 177.5km
Friday 16th May, Stage 3: Gödöllo – Gyöngyös – Kékestetö, 162.8km
Saturday 17th May, Stage 4: Tata – Székesfehérvár,153.6km
Sunday 18th May, Stage 5: Etyek – Esztergom, 169.5km