This was my second time racing the Pilis Cup Hill Climb TT. I rode here two years ago, and back then things went wrong at the Pilismarót turn. The race direction was confusing, and instead of turning off by the church, I just stayed on Highway 11. After a while I realised, “this can’t be the course,” so I turned back. But it was too late. I added eight extra kilometres on top of the race distance. The crazy part is I was still only eight minutes behind the winner, even with that detour. Of course I was angry. Since then I’ve got over it, and when we train in the Pilis we always laugh about that story. And now, today, I came back for the 18th Pilis Cup Hill Climb TT.
The course is 26 kilometres with 507 metres of climbing. The first 14 kilometres are flat on the 11 main road, then the last 12 go uphill, with a nasty 12% pitch near the top. Riders start one by one, every minute. The first part is open road, no traffic control. On Sundays the traffic is not heavy there, but still you have to watch out. Sometimes it caused problems.
I started at 12:02. Some riders used TT bikes, but I went with my Orbea Orca Aero road bike. I thought it was smarter because of the climb. The bike is aero enough and much lighter than a time trial bike. It worked – I could still climb at around 30 km/h on average.
Already in the first minutes I had a challenge. Like I said, there was no closed road. The organizers only stopped the cars for the start area, then it was up to us. On the little climb towards the Basilica, I caught a tourist train with cars stacked behind it. Luckily the race rules didn’t say we had to follow normal traffic law this time, so I was free to ride faster than the 30 sign and passed the cars on the right.
A bit later, near the MOL gas station, I caught more cars. In one corner I had to decide: risk overtaking on the left with oncoming traffic, or try the right side where a car could suddenly turn. I chose the right, and just as I came alongside, the driver slowed and turned into the station. I had to brake to zero and then kick hard to get back up to speed. That hurt. Without that car, I could have kept a perfect downhill momentum.
Honestly, I’m sorry for the drivers. They probably had no idea there was a bike race going on. No signs told them, so I can understand if they weren’t happy with me weaving through.
Out of Esztergom things were calmer, until just before Pilismarót, when a bus and three cars passed me. After the town sign I caught them, and again I had to pass on the right. But the bus was covering the entire lain, super slow, and I didn’t dare try the left side with oncoming traffic. So I was stuck at 25 km/h behind the bus. On my Garmin I saw later: 50 seconds behind the bus, and with the cars before it 1 minute 20 seconds total lost compared to the pace I wanted. My average speed dropped from 45 to 42.8 km/h. That made me really angry, but I tried not to think about it and just kept pushing.
Finally at kilometre 14 the climb began. I stuck to the plan, steady power, around 30 km/h all the way, only dropping on the 12% section near the top. I could push again in the last kilometres. And that was special: the guys from APPSolute Sport BTS SE, who didn’t race today, were training in the Pilis and stood at the roadside shouting for me. That gave me extra power.
I crossed the line in 43 minutes 59 seconds. That was 2nd place in U19. I lost maybe 40 seconds to a minute with the traffic, but the winner, Márton Filepkó from Team United Shipping, beat me by more than that, so I didn’t feel the bus cost me the win. It was fair. Overall I finished 11th out of 124 riders.
Performance-wise I did exactly what I planned. I could go full gas the whole way, felt strong, and no pain from my old injury – I think that’s finally behind me. And it felt really good to be back on the podium.
