The MBH Bank Cycling Team, fresh off wins in Kajdacs and Austria, arrived for its first multi-day international race of the season: the Slovak Cup in Trnava. This two-day event kicked off with a criterium on Day 1, covering 27.3 kilometers—21 laps on a straight, four-lane road with U-turns at both ends. Day 2 will feature a 135-kilometer road race (5 laps) around Bohunice and the surrounding area.
As with the rest of the season, our job here is for the first-year U19 riders to support the second-years.
At the start, we were positioned in the middle of the group, which was risky because of the first U-turn, so we had to quickly move into a better position.
During the 21 laps, a bell rang each time to signal the intermediate sprints in the following lap, where riders could earn bonus points. Double points were awarded for the final sprint.
Bálint moved up well, so I could lead him out three times, and we even broke away together once.
Everything came together perfectly, and Bálint took the win. I dropped back by the end, finishing 10th among the first-year riders and 20th overall out of 53. But I wasn’t racing for myself here—I was racing for Bálint, and in the end, his victory made it all worthwhile.
The MBH Bank Cycling Team has won every race so far this season. I gave it my all, and it was definitely worth it.
The second day’s race was incredibly hot, and the open helmet in my size hadn’t arrived yet, so I had to race in a closed one. Combined with yesterday’s effort, it was just too much. At one point, I felt like my head was going to explode, so I had to pull out.
On the other hand, Bálint and Marci managed to break away from the bunch, with Bálint going on to win the race.
