Time Trial
Distance: 19 km
Start: Debrecen, Bocskaikert
My start time: 11:48 AM
Find more information about the race on the host DKSI’s website and on the MKSZ website.
The race announcement can be found here.
This was a race where anything and everything seemed to happen.
I arrived in Debrecen the night before to prepare calmly for the start, avoiding the stress of morning traffic or the need for an early departure.
Just as my teammates and I were about to warm up, we got the news from Viktor Filutás that Attila Antal had been in a serious accident during his warm-up and was severely injured. When we saw not only an ambulance but also a rescue helicopter arrive and realized they weren’t able to take off with Attila for well over an hour, we knew things were really bad.
Eventually, the helicopter did take off, which brought some relief, but everyone’s thoughts remained with the accident. We hoped for the best.
Since the race was interrupted—the helicopter had to land at the starting area—new start times were issued. To keep things on track, everyone started two hours later than originally planned.
Of course, we had already consumed our usual pre-race energy boosters when the race was paused, so we had to rethink things a bit. The sweltering heat didn’t help either—34°C in the shade (though there was no shade). Thankfully, our team tent and a bunch of ice cubes, plus my cooling vest, came in handy, but it was still a tough one.
This race also marked the debut of my time trial bike, an Orbea Orca, previously ridden to victory by Tomi Hancz. I had tested it in the weeks leading up to the race, but I couldn’t practice as much as I wanted due to illness, which caused me to miss some training sessions. I was still coughing a bit on race day but felt mostly fine.
My adjusted start time was 13:48.
I raced with a full disc wheel, knowing that the crosswinds on certain parts of the course would work against me, but I hoped to take advantage of it on other sections.
The course was 19 km, with a turnaround point at 9.5 km.
In the end, my time was 25:50.67, which translates to an average speed of 44.1 km/h.
When I crossed the finish line, my first thought was, ‘Just don’t let me be last.’ But it turned out that things were much better than I expected: I finished 8th in the U19 category and had the second-best result among the first-year riders.
Hancz Tomi took the win, with my teammates Takács Zsombor and Makrai Bálint finishing second and third. Our U17 riders also performed well: Péter-Lichtenberger Ábris won, and Tóth Márk secured third place on the podium. There was plenty to celebrate for the team.
I’m satisfied with my result—coming off an illness, this was realistically the best I could expect as a first-year. I’ll be back next year!
Sadly, I must update this entry with heartbreaking news: Attila, who became the Hungarian time trial champion in his age group in 2023, passed away in the hospital two weeks after his accident. He never regained consciousness after the crash. Attila was an outstanding cyclist with a huge heart. Just the day before the race, he wrote on Strava that he had no chance of winning the time trial championship jersey this year, but he went out for one last ride with it anyway. The word ‘last’ carried an unexpected weight.
And what kind of person was he? A fellow rider asked him in the Strava comments the day before the race if he could borrow a time trial bottle cage, and Attila immediately responded, ‘Of course.’
It’s a great sorrow to lose a healthy, 53-year-old sportsman. The only source of peace is knowing that his last moments were filled with what he loved most. Rest in peace, Attila.
