The cyclist from Czömör exposed himself in the men's field race of road cyclists at the Paris Olympics. The gold medal was won by the double Belgian Remco Evenepoel.
Visma-Lease a Bike, the Hungarian champion bike, had an excellent position in the field all the way through, finally finishing fourth in the 273-kilometer competition with a huge hair shake. After the time trial, Evenepoel also won the gold medal in the field competition in the French capital.
Evenepoel accomplished an act of sporting history, as no male cyclist had previously been able to win both the time trial and the field race at the same Olympics.
The start and finish of the 273-kilometer distance with a difference in elevation of 2,800 meters are located at the Trocadero. Due to the significantly smaller field of 90 people compared to the usual world competitions and World Tour competitions and the maximum four competitors per nation, it was difficult to predict the course of the competition. After the sharp start, a five-man breakaway formed almost immediately, including African and Far Eastern cyclists, who were not previously ranked among the medal contenders. Since the bigger nations easily controlled the distance in this way, the group with no chance of reaching home was released for 15 minutes.
Valter also participated in the field competition three years ago in Tokyo, but even though he covered the distance, he did not officially finish the competition due to an organizational error. The Visma-Lease a Bike Hungarian champion bike - which finished 22nd in the time trial in the French capital a week ago - this time tactically positioned itself in the wind shadow of the field, from which another four-man group broke away, including former European champion Elia Viviani from Italy. The two fugitive groups united not long after the middle of the distance, but due to the breakaways, soon there were only five pacers, barely three minutes ahead of the field.
Within the last ninety kilometers, the starts started at the back, when they reached the Paris city circuit, new groups of escapees formed, behind them the field, which had decreased due to the increased pace, rolled. A huge crowd gathered, they cheered on the cyclists in packed lines for kilometers in the French capital, creating a fantastic atmosphere around the race. The Dutch world champion Mathieu van der Poel really blew up the line for the first time 46 kilometers before the finish line, but this did not lead to a long gap. Valter was there in the field, from which, eight kilometers later, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, the new Olympic champion in the time trial, was able to jump onto the breakaway group.
Evenepoel dictated a high pace on the short, steep and in many places cobbled climbs in Paris, only Valentin Madouas, driven by the French public, could keep up with him, while the attacks started one after the other at the back, but Valter still persevered in this wave. Evenepoel remained alone in the front for the final 15 kilometers and rolled with a lead of more than one minute. Four kilometers before the finish, he had to change his bike due to a puncture, but this only lost about 20 seconds, which did not prevent him from doubling: Evenepoel - who finished third overall at the Tour de France that ended two weeks ago - already rolled easily across the finish line, then he stopped and celebrated.
Madouas held on to his pursuers even when winding alone and won the silver medal. And in the group behind him, Valter Attila was already there at the start, who could only be overtaken by the French European champion Christophe Laporte: the 26-year-old Hungarian cyclist achieved a sensational fourth place.
"In cycling, it is true that even a swallow can make a summer, because more and more people want to follow in the footsteps of Valter for men and Blanka Vas for women. And our job is to build a cycling +superpower+ out of young people so that the Hungarians can already ride in a team at the next Olympics"
- Domonkos Schneller, the president of the Hungarian Federation (MKSZ), looked ahead in his assessment sent to MTI.
"Valter Attila's performance is also remarkable in the sense that he had to compete against riders specialized in one-day races, such as Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert or Remco Evenepoel, and was able to leave many of the world's best behind him"
he declared.
MTI
Featured image: MOB
