The Eroica Juniores – Nations’ Cup was held for the second time in the Siena area. The four-day event featured two half stages and three “full” road stages. The Hungarian national team (Tamás Hancz, Bálint Makrai, Marcell Takács, Barnabás Vas, Koppány Gergely, András Pakot) was among the twenty-eight teams competing.

On the morning of 18 April, the race started with a 22.5 km team time trial, which was won by the German Team GRENKE-Auto Eder (26:24 – 51.13 km/h), with the Hungarian team finishing in twenty-first place, almost three minutes behind.

In the afternoon, the young riders completed a 68.3-kilometre stage, which had been previously favoured by the sprinters. At the end of the stage, a line of ten riders fought for victory, with Dutch cyclist Senna Remijn the strongest, while Barnabás Vas finished in a creditable eighth place. The overall leader was Ireland’s Patrick Casey (Team GRENKE-Auto Eder).

The next day, a 110.6-kilometre stage between Cinigiano and Siena, with some gravel sections due to the terrain, followed, and the mini Strade Bianche ended with the triumph of last year’s Nations’ Cup overall winner from Hungary, Norway’s Felix-Orn Kristoff.

The third stage was neutralised and then cancelled due to bad weather conditions, while the final stage also ended with Kristoff’s victory, with Spain’s Héctor Álvarez leading the overall due to Casey’s rust. As for the Hungarians, Barnabás Vas was 51st (+ 7:41), Bálint Makrai 69th (+ 14:01) and Tamás Hancz 71st (+ 14:17).

The Nations’ Cup series continues with the Czech Peace Race from 2 to 5 May.

Of course, there will be another home Nations’ Cup Youth World Cup race in 2024, which, as originally planned, will welcome cyclists as the eleventh stop of the twelve-round series on 14-15 August.