Ungar is writing Giro history and wants a lot more
By Happy Mattis
13.05.2021 | (rsn) – A year ago, Attila Valter should have made his Grand Tour debut in his home country. The planned Grande Partenza of the Giro d’Italia in Hungary would have been a very special event for the new professional who was still under contract with CCC at the time. But the corona crisis prevented it.
The Giro, which Valter drove anyway and at the end of which he finished 27th – including a ninth place on the last mountain stage to Sestriere – was postponed to autumn and the start in Hungary was canceled.
A year later, however, Valter was still able to write Hungarian sports history at the Giro on Thursday. The 22-year-old became the first Hungarian holder of the Maglia Rosa in Ascoli Piceno in the Marche region on Thursday.
“This is the best day of my life”, he cheered after the 6th stage of the 104th tour of Italy. “In Hungary it was unbelievable with the white jersey. This is going to be crazy. My father is currently on the tour of Hungary and told me that they showed the arrival of the Giro at the finish and everyone cheered me on. I am happy to be the first Hungarian in this jersey and hope that this will give cycling in my home country a boost! “
Valter’s father used to be a cyclist himself and now works as a trainer. It was through him that Filius got into cycling – even if he initially had to be braked: Valter wanted to race at an early age, but was only allowed to do so when he was ten. He started on the mountain bike, became Hungarian junior champion there at the age of 16, took part in cross-country world cups in the junior years and dreamed of the Olympics.
Career: via mountain bike to the l’Avenir stage win in Tignes
Because road cycling is more popular in Hungary and, above all, is better promoted, he changed saddles, rode on the road at 18 and became Hungarian U23 champion in road racing and time trial at 20. In 2019 he won the mountain finish of the Tour de l’Avenir in Tignes and was 13th overall. of this most important U23 tour in the world, in order to finish fourth in the U23 variant of Il Lombardia at the end of the year.
The jump into the WorldTour to CCC was made and Valter was looking forward to his first Grand Tour, which was supposed to begin in Hungary of all places. But then Corona thwarted this calculation – but in retrospect it even helped him: Valter was able to develop a little, won the Tour of Hungary after the Corona break in the summer and then drove the Giro, albeit now without Grande Partenza Hungary.
In addition, the Corona crisis saved him a lot of time at university: He was able to do most of his studies from home and on the go and thus managed to finally hand in his thesis at the end of April 2021. “I know that anything can happen in sport and that is why I prefer to have a degree in my pocket,” said Valter, explaining why he continued his studies despite a professional contract.
Swim to the top on two rainy days
Valter finished the opening time trial in Turin on Saturday in 95th place, 53 seconds behind winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). At this point in time, Rosa could not even be dreamed of. But Valter joined the breakaway group of the day on the rainy Tuesday on the way to Sestola, and even if he had nothing to do with the stage win, he moved up to fifth overall and took the lead in the junior class.
After Dombrowski went out on Wednesday, he started the 6th stage in fourth place overall, and when Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) lost the connection around the middle of the race due to the Ineos Grenadiers increasing the pace, a ball got rolling:
On the 15-kilometer final climb to the San Giacomo, he looked around and saw only one of the three drivers placed in front of him in the overall standings: Louis Vervaeke (Alpecin – Fenix). Both De Marchi and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) fell victim to the Ineos action at Forca di Presta and were left behind. However, the Belgian Vervaeke started the stage with an 18 second lead over Valter and was now the big opponent in the battle for Rosa – alongside all the favorites for the Giro victory. Valter wanted to hold on to them for as long as possible, and he succeeded.
“That’s exactly what I had in mind today”
“It’s funny to joke about something like that in the morning, but to really believe in it, it’s something else. I couldn’t be more surprised and happier, but still: Yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind today,” Valter revealed later, when it was successful. While Vervake ran into problems after Bernal’s attack in the final, Valter got hold of Simon Yates (BikeExchange) and followed the Giro top favorite to the finish. 17 seconds after Bernal and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) he rolled over the line – and 43 before Vervaeke.
“At the finish I looked around to see who was with me and thought to myself: ‘I did it!’ But nobody had any official information. After two minutes a person from the organization came up to me and said: ‘You have the pink jersey’. It was an incredible feeling, “said Valter. “I still can’t believe it’s true.”
“It hasn’t happened to us since Bradley McGee”
Team boss Marc Madiot felt the same way, who was completely overwhelmed. “I absolutely did not expect that,” said the Frenchman happily. “It hasn’t happened to us since Bradley McGee!” The Australian McGee had won the prologue of the Giro 17 years ago and wore the Maglia Rosa for Francaise des Jeux for two days before Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) took it from him on the first mountain finish.
With the possibility of fighting for Rosa in the back of his mind, it wasn’t just Valter who tackled the 6th stage himself. Sports director Philippe Mauduit also thought this scenario was possible before the rainy day in the Marche region. “I didn’t put any pressure on him this morning, but asked his team-mates to stay with him as long as possible to help him,” said the Frenchman and was pleased: “For Attila, the white jersey was a dream. Now it is he’s in pink. He’ll dream about it all night. ”
Long-term goal: Giro victory
The question now is: How many nights can Valter – besides Marton Dina (Eolo – Kometa), who is also a second Hungarian at the start in the Giro, which is also a record – spend in the pink jersey?
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll do an Almeida (Joao Almeida surprisingly drove through Italy from the 3rd to the 18th stage in Rosa in 2020, editor’s note). But it will certainly bring a lot of pressure with it. We’ll see how the next few days will be “, Valter told wielerflits.nl on Thursday already self-confidently. In the long term, he also wants to fight for overall victory in a Grand Tour. “So today was a step in the right direction. One day I want to fight here to wear the pink jersey to the end.”
The Grande Partenza in Budapest, which was canceled in 2020, may be rescheduled for next year. Every day that Valter now wears the pink jersey, that should make that more likely.
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