It’s always great when Zengő organizes the race. They take great care of us, make sure we ride on the best possible roads, and the infrastructure at the start and during the awards ceremony is always top-notch. The details are clear, well-communicated, and everything runs smoothly. That’s exactly how it was at the Mohács 500 Road Race.
I’d like to highlight that they — and thankfully more and more organizers — put up special warning signs on the roads, saying, “Caution! Cycling race!” In addition to that, they ensure the course is fully secured across the entire width of the road. I love racing under these conditions because it allows me to focus solely on what I’m there to do.
This year, three of us from BTS lined up: Koloszár Peti, Németh Ákos, and myself. We raced in separate categories, but at least we started together. They competed in the Elite category, doing two laps, while we did one, but for a while, we were able to ride together.
In the U17 category, the distance was 62 kilometers. There’s really no point in talking about elevation—it was practically negligible. The pace, however, was full throttle.
Everyone started together. On the shorter course, U17, Senior1, Senior2, WU17, WU19, and WMaster categories raced, while the others tackled the longer course, completing two laps.
After the start, a breakaway group formed from the Elite and U19 categories, led by two MBH riders. We didn’t see them again. In the U17 race, I maintained a good pace and was able to control the race throughout, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. Lotus tried to throw in a few surprises, but I stuck to my planned strategy and stayed exactly where I wanted to be the whole time.
With 1 kilometer to go, I started positioning myself to launch the sprint from a good spot. We were on an unbelievably long and wide straightaway, but it was so flat and straight that it was hard to judge where exactly the sprint would kick off.
We were all sizing each other up, waiting to see who would make the first move. No one wanted to start too early, but we were all tense, watching closely in case someone made a sudden burst.
At 800 meters, still no one had made a move. I shifted to the right side, gave it a little push, started cranking out 400 watts, and looked back to see who was sitting in my slipstream.
No one.
Had I gone too early? Didn’t matter—it was now or never. Time to go!
I hammered the pedals, putting down every watt I had. I glanced back again and saw I had such a big gap that I’d have time to celebrate. By the time it sank in, I was already over the line. Victory! I won both the U17 and the overall race. It felt amazing!
My time for the 62 kilometers, with 231 meters of elevation, was 1:37:49 (38.3 km/h average speed).
In second place was Zsombor Kiss from Szekszárdi Kerékpáros SE (Szekszárd Cycling Team), while third went to Marko Cickaric from Lotus. (His teammate, Gréta Pákolicz, accepted the award on his behalf, and she also took home the U17 women’s gold medal.)
This was my third victory. I paid my dues for Mohács.
