The 136.5-kilometre stage started from Vásárosnamény and included three major laps in the Bereg region, passing through the villages of Tákos, Csaroda, Tarpa, Tivadar, Gulács and Jánd – with two sprint.

After a sharp start, there were constant attacks, but no viable breakaway was to be made. Austrian Helmo Fugger won the first sprint. The constant changes of pace and attempts resulted in eight riders breaking away from the peloton after just under seventy kilometres, but this group was still only half a minute behind, and the peloton was back together again before the second sprint.

Austria’s Fugger won this sprint, with Zsombor Takács (MBH Bank Cycling Team) finishing third and gaining time credit.

In the final kilometres, the teams preparing for the bunch sprint took the initiative, with the Spanish teams in particular working hard, and Héctor Álvarez won the stage ahead of Ireland’s Seth Dunwoody and Czech Jan Podaril.

“It was a stage that went according to our strategy, and although we didn’t have a viable breakaway, we tried to keep things under control. In the last 20 kilometres, we had to be very sensible, but we did what we came to do and won the first stage,” said Héctor Álvarez after crossing the finish line.

The best Hungarian rider was András Pakot (Hungarian national team), who finished in tenth place, but in the general classification Zsombor Takács (MBH Bank Cycling Team) will be the best rider, who will start stage 2/A from sixth place thanks to his time credit in the stage.

The blue jersey for the best first year rider and the green jersey for the points race were both won by Heimo Fugger.

Results

Stage 1, Vásárosnamény-Vásárosnamény (136.5 km)
1. Héctor Álvarez (Spain) 3:02:20
2. Seth Dunwoody (Ireland) a.i
3. Jan Podaril (Czech) a.i
4. Michal Strzelecki (Poland) a.i
5. Filip Smoras (Norway) a.i
6. Kacper Mientki (Polish) a.i
7. Felix Orn-Kristoff (Norway) a.i
8. Heimo Fugger (Austrian) a.i
9. Marcos Freire (Spain) a.i
10. András akot András (Hungarian national team) a.i

General classification
1. Héctor Álvarez (Spain) 3:02:20
2. Jan Podaril (Czech Republic) + 3 sec
3. Seth Dunwoody (Ireland) + 4 sec
4. Heimo Fugger (Austria) + 4 sec
5. Kacper Mientki (Poland) + 8 se
6. Zsombor Takács (MBH Bank Cycling Team) + 9 sec
7. Michal Strzelecki (Poland) + 10 sec
8. Filip Smoras (Norway) + 10 sec
9. Felix Orn-Kristoff (Norway) + 10 sec
10. Marcos Freire (Spain) + 10 sec

The Nations’ Cup Hungary will continue with two half-stages, with the caravan circling Ibrány (86.3 kilometres) in the morning of 15 August, and a time trial in Nyíregyháza (3.6 kilometres) in the afternoon.