It was my first time competing in the School Olympics. There was no real reason why I hadn’t done it before—it just hadn’t happened. This year, I decided to finally line up. I entered the time trial. The distance was 10 kilometers, the venue was Debrecen—more precisely, Bocskaikert. The course is straight all the way, with solid tarmac. Wind plays a major role here for several reasons.
This same location hosts the National Time Trial Championships in the summer. There’s a section where strong gusts from the side can really surprise you. A serious crosswind needs a different approach with TT bikes. Last week in Slovakia, the day before the race was calm, but the next day everything changed. Here in Bocskaikert, we had 8 km/h wind, with gusts up to 16 km/h, and the forecast showed that the wind would be mostly along the direction of the road. That meant headwind in one direction, tailwind in the other. As a forecast.
Even though the licensed riders wore their team jerseys, everyone raced under their school’s name. I represented the Gödöllő Reformed Church High School. And rightly so—licensed and non-licensed riders were split into separate categories. Licensed riders were in Group A, the others in Group B. I raced in U19A (licensed), with 21 starters.
My start time was 11:18. My teammate Balázs Korondi, racing in U17A, went off about an hour before me, so we didn’t have time to talk much beforehand. When he finished and I saw his time was 13:30, I thought that this would be enough for a top-three place, maybe even first in the U17 category. But later, we were hit with a cold shower: that time, which last year would’ve landed him on the U19 podium, wasn’t enough this year. The field was stacked, and the pace had clearly stepped up.
Gergő Gönczy had planned out exactly what I should eat and drink before the start—down to the gram and second, and I followed it precisely. I really wanted to perform, and I felt like everything could come together. During warm-up, I noticed the front brake had air in the system, but since this wasn’t a bunch race, there was no risk of emergency braking. I just had to remind myself not to rely on the front brake before the turnaround.
Due to School Olympics rules, we had to start from the ground. No start ramp, and no one holding the saddle so you could clip in. That costs you a few tenths at the start, but it’s the same for everyone, so it doesn’t really matter.
On the way out, I felt the headwind. At the halfway point, at the turnaround, I had a quick look at my Garmin and saw the time was looking good. That gave me a confidence boost. Plus, I was counting on a tailwind back, after all, I had faced headwind going out.
But after the race, checking my Strava data, it turned out the wind was coming from the east-southeast on a mostly north-south course. So in reality, it was crosswind both ways: slightly from the left and front on the way out, and slightly from the right and behind on the way back, but mainly from the side. At that point, I just knew, the wind wasn’t going to bring me home. Still, I felt like something good might come out of this. I kept pushing the pedals and tried not to think about anything else.
At the finish, it was announced that I had the fastest time so far: 12:59.1, with an average speed of 46.2 km/h. That felt great, but I also knew there were still plenty of strong riders out there. We were launched in alphabetical order, and ‘H’ is still fairly early in the list. So it wasn’t over yet.
I drank a good amount of water after the finish. During the ride, the heat dried out my mouth completely.
Then Gábor Kőrösi from Team Lotus came in, beating my time by 4 seconds. Then Olivér Soós crossed the line with a time that was 13.2 seconds faster than mine. Only when the last U19A rider crossed the line could I be sure of the final result. Only the three of us managed to break the 13-minute barrier in U19. I finished third. Full results are available online, click here.
Getting back on the podium felt like all the hard work had paid off. Congratulations to Olivér and Gábor! Thanks to everyone for the support, and a big thank you to APPSolute Sport for backing me!
