Van Poppel loses teammate Welsford to heavy crash but powers to second stage win in Tour of Hungary

After yesterday’s flat stage, where Danny van Poppel delivered his usual lead-out for Sam Welsford but ended up with such a gap that he finished it off himself, today brought another opportunity for the fast men. The 177-kilometer route featured only two small climbs early on and was mostly flat all the way to the finish in Siófok.

Early in the stage, five riders formed the day’s breakaway. They quickly opened up a gap of nearly three minutes during the hilly section, but that advantage began to shrink not long after the final climb. With 120 kilometers to go, the gap had already come down to under two minutes.

While the breakaway maintained its lead, the peloton was rattled by a huge crash 107 kilometers from the finish, involving around thirty riders. Among those who went down were Max van der Meulen (Bahrain Victorious), Sam Welsford (Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe), Pablo Torres (UAE Team Emirates XRG), and Alex Kirsch (Lidl Trek).

The crash not only caused major disruption but also left several riders badly injured. Soon after, Welsford, along with teammates Frederik Wandahl and Ryan Mullen, had to abandon the race. Pablo Torres, considered a podium outsider, and Rainer Kepplinger (Bahrain Victorious) also withdrew and were taken to the hospital. Thankfully, it was later confirmed that all five riders were out of danger.

Seventeen kilometers after the crash, the peloton regrouped. Focus shifted back to the stage, where the five escapees still held a lead of one and a half minutes with 90 kilometers to go. That gap steadily dropped in the following kilometers, down to just under a minute with 60 kilometers remaining.

With 45 kilometers to go, the gap of the five leaders dropped below a minute. The peloton had them in sight, and the breakaway riders knew their move was doomed. Meanwhile, the sprint teams began to take control at the front of the bunch, ramping up the pace.

At the 30-kilometer mark, the final escapee was reeled in. Things stayed calm after that, likely with the earlier crash still in everyone's minds. Lidl Trek and Jayco AlUla set the tempo, leading the reduced bunch into the final ten kilometers.

No one dared to attack in the closing kilometers, allowing the sprint trains to prepare for another drag race. In the run-up to the final kilometer, teams battled for position, trying to deliver their sprinters to the perfect spot. Dutch champion Dylan Groenewegen was brought to the line in textbook fashion by Elmar Reinders and company. He looked set for his first win of the season but was edged out at the line by Danny van Poppel, who snatched victory by the slimmest of margins.