The lead-up wasn’t easy. As spring blossomed, my nose was constantly running and stuffed up, making it hard to breathe for a while. I went for an allergy test, and it turns out I’m sensitive to a few plants that are blooming right now.
I was prescribed medication and nasal spray, but after reading the ingredients, I became concerned they might be on the doping list. Before heading to the race, we contacted the Hungarian Anti-Doping Group via email to confirm if I could use them at all. Thankfully, I received the reassuring answer that these medications, in this dosage and formulation, are allowed, as long as I keep all the medical records, prescriptions, and email correspondence.
So, I was cleared to race, which was good news. Unfortunately, the non-doping allergy meds don’t help much, and the stronger ones are prohibited, but at least I had something to try. That said, when I started experiencing side effects like fatigue and nausea, I decided to stop taking them. If they weren’t doing much good, at least they shouldn’t harm me.
We arrived in Banovce on April 12 for a three-day race. Day one featured a 4 km uphill time trial. The condition: only a road setup was allowed, no aero bars—essentially an individual start mountain stage.
We raced the entire three-day event alongside the U23 and Elite categories, with 121 riders in total. The time trial was 4 km with 270 meters of elevation. I completed it in 11:59, which placed me 21st in U19 and 8th among the first-year riders.
(The bandage on my hand is from a crash last week—nothing serious.)
On the second day, we set off for a 5-lap, 145-kilometer race with 1,250 meters of elevation. The start was in Banovce, from where the route led out to a mountain section where we completed the laps before finishing in Podluzany.
As we started the lap, we passed through a gravel section. It was hard to tell if it was actually gravel or just really bad tarmac, but either way, it was bumpy. We were going at a decent pace, so I was in the drops, and the gears were set on the 11th. And then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t shift.
Nothing.
The climb was coming up, and I needed to shift down, but no matter how much I pressed the button, nothing happened. I pulled over and signaled the team car. They looked at it for a good 2-3 minutes, but couldn’t get it working. We agreed that I should keep going after the peloton, which was already far ahead, and see if it started working again. If it didn’t, I’d have to abandon. The spare bikes were set up for the second-year riders, so switching to one wasn’t an option.
And to make things worse, this happened just 20 kilometers into the race, and I knew if I pulled out, I wouldn’t be allowed to start the next day, and the whole race would be over. So I got back on the bike and pedaled in the drops. Uphill.
During the first lap, when they handed me my bottle, they shouted from the team bus that the team car was asking if the gears were working or if I should abandon. And they asked if the gears were good. What I understood was that I should keep going, and to their question about the gears, I gave the response you can hear in the video (‘F… it!’). But I kept going.
I managed to complete two laps before the broom wagon caught up with me and pulled me out of the race. I rode back to the team bus and called it a day.
That was the end of this race for me. Still, I covered 64 kilometers with a dead derailleur, in the drops, averaging 37 km/h on pure effort, with an average of 215 watts (including zeros), without any drafting and 500 meters of elevation. It was a good workout, but I was really disappointed that the race was ruined because of the derailleur.
Oh, and what was wrong with the derailleur? On the rough surface, it switched to crash mode, and since it was stuck on the smallest cog, I couldn’t get it out. Only the service team could fix it back home.
From the team’s perspective, the race ended on a high note: Zsombi Takács managed to hold onto the white jersey he earned on the first day, kept it on the second, and on the third day, he not only won the stage but also took the overall victory. I was genuinely happy for him—Zsombi is a great guy and truly deserved this win. I would have gladly worked for him and the team if my derailleur hadn’t taken me out of the race.
