Marc Hirschi overcomes INEOS challenge to take brilliant win on stage 3 of the Tour de Hongrie
Cycling
Marc Hirschi would not be denied on a very exciting finale to stage 3 of the Tour de Hongrie that saw the UAE Team Emirates rider fight off competition from the likes of Ben Tulett and Egan Bernal.
Stage 3 was expected to be the first big day for the overall classification. Whilst not a serious mountain stage, the day featured a tough final circuit with a 4-kilometre climb at 4.7% to be ridden twice before the finish. The final ascent to Pecs is where the race will be decided however.
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Deciding the breakaway was the best bet for the day was a seven-rider group including a pair of Alpecin-Deceuninck riders in Silvan Dillier and Dries De Bondt.
With 50km to go the breakaway began to break up and meanwhile, Fabio Jakobsen began to struggle out the back of the peloton on the fourth categorised climb of the day.
In the peloton, Egan Bernal began to set an infernal pace on the front before teammate Jhonatan Narváez attacked. Only Finn Fisher-Black and Oscar Onley were able to follow the INEOS Grenadiers man.
With the counter-attacking trio reaching the front of the race, they had stretched their lead to over a minute from the peloton.
Doing a lot of work to help pull the leaders back was BORA - hansgrohe's star sprinter Sam Bennett and in truth, he was doing a brilliant job. With around 17km to the finish it was all back together again at the front of the race.
As the race reached the final little kick-up to the line, the battle for position at the front of the peloton was a fierce one.
Bernal again was setting a fierce pace on the climb. This time though, Ben Tulett was the teammate who attacked over the top of him, powering ahead with only Marc Hirschi able to stay in contention with 1400 metres to go.
After such a big effort from Tulett, Hirschi waited for the INEOS man to lose some impetus and counter-attacking to a brilliant stage victory. Behind the UAE Team Emirates rider, Tulett just managed to hold on to claim second.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Blah blah blah!frieders311-11-2026
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
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