The final day of racing at the Tour de Hongrie saw the peloton take on 16 laps of a fast and flat circuit around the centre of Budapest. It was a quick start to the stage before a four rider breakaway managed to escape, with all Team DSM riders in the peloton; focusing on saving energy for the finale.

The bunch were always in control of those ahead, eventually making the catch at five kilometres to go and setting up one final sprint finish. The team worked well together to move Alberto Dainese towards the front of the bunch as the pace ramped up. However, it was a hectic finale on the high-speed run in, with several turns stretching the peloton out and the team lost each other a little heading under the flamme rouge. Niklas Märkl tried to bring Dainese forward, but it was difficult to and he had to start his sprint from deep. When Dainese opened up his effort to the line he had to check himself as other riders pulled out in front of him to start their sprints, meaning he was unable to compete for a top result on the stage.

“The guys did a good job to put me in position for the last corner with one point six kilometres to go,” explained Dainese after the stage. “I then tried to find my way but it was really hectic in the finish and I couldn’t sprint for the top positions in the end.”

Team DSM coach Luke Roberts added: “The final stage at the Tour de Hongrie saw us take on a city lap around the centre of Budapest. It was a fast race which came down to the inevitable bunch sprint. We hit the front at around two and half kilometres out, trying to set up Alberto for a critical corner there and that went okay. After that it got a little bit messy and Alberto was pushed out of position and couldn’t start his sprint from a good place. Unfortunately, that meant we got no top result to finish off our week here. In general, it was a good learning week for the guys though. They made some steps in progressing with their work in the lead out and we could get some nice experience out of the race. Overall it was a really nice race and I’m happy we were able to get an invitation to take part here.”