Following the European Championships in Drenthe at the end of September, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has published its provisional calendar for 2024, which of course includes Hungary’s only Youth World Cup, the Nations’ Cup Hungary. As you know, this year’s Hungarian Nations’ Cup round will be held in August 2023, with Vásárosnamény, Ibrány and Nyíregyháza as the venues. The home event was dominated by the Norwegian national team, with Felix Orn-Kristoff winning all three stages and finishing in the lead in the overall standings. The best Hungarian cyclist was Zsombor Balogh.
Naturally, the main organiser, the Move Health Recreation Sports Association, and its partner, the Nyírségi Cyclists Sports Association (NYKSE), will organise the race again in 2024, which will be the last of the eleven-round series on 14-15 August. The Nations’ Cup will include both one-day and multi-day events, with a two-day event in Hungary next year, including events such as the legendary junior classic Paris-Roubaix and one of the most popular youth multi-day events, the Czech junior “Peace Race”.
– It’s a great honour for us to be able to organise this event for the fifth year in a row,” said race director János Solymosi, who is also the president of NYKSE, when contacted by our newspaper. – I think that the fact that, in addition to the adult events, our country also offers international competition opportunities for junior cyclists is also beneficial for Hungarian cycling, as our young cyclists can compare their strengths with the elite of their age group and see what level they are at. The Hungarian leg of the World Cup will also be a step forward for the Hungarian road cycling.
– This year’s event is a proven success! It’s clear that by moving the individual time trial from the beginning to the end of the race, we made the event much more exciting, even though Felix Orn-Kristoff stood out from the peloton,” said János Solymosi, explaining what happened this year. This is a source of pride, but I hope that this audience will grow from year to year, as our international profile will increase in proportion.
