The man in form strikes again! López conquers the Hungarian summit finish and wins stage three of the Tour of Hungary

After two sprint stages, today it was finally the climbers’ turn in the Tour of Hungary. Yesterday, it was once again Danny van Poppel who proved to be the fastest in the sprint, but stage two will mainly be remembered for the massive crash that occurred 130 kilometers from the finish in the peloton. Among the worst affected were Sam Welsford and Pablo Torres, who were forced to abandon the race.

Whether that margin would be enough to reach the final climb first was still uncertain. After all, the descent was followed by a long valley of nearly 50 kilometers before the riders would hit the final ascent. However, the breakaway handled the valley well, and with 30 kilometers to go, their lead was still more than a minute and a half, making it very likely they would be the first to reach the final climb.

Things remained calm for a while on the final climb, allowing a group of about thirty riders to enter the last five kilometers together. Even with three kilometers to go, many riders still had hopes of taking the stage win. But then XDS Astana and UAE Team Emirates turned up the pace, triggering the expected selection.