"My head is in knots. I was stressed, nervous and scared" - Attila Valter not mentally recovered from pair of Giro d'Italia crashes

Hungarian National Champion Attila Valter has had a tricky first week at the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Suffering from a pair of crashes in the opening week, the 25-year-old is struggling to recover both mentally and physically.

"The roads in the last five kilometres were really ridiculously bad. I was very nervous," Valter reflects to In de Leiderstrui after stage 9, with Geraint Thomas among others also heavily critical. "I've been feeling good for days, but my head is mostly in knots. I was stressed and nervous and scared in the peloton, in such a hectic final. That is often the case after falls, so now that I have already fallen twice, it is double the trouble for me. I hope it goes away because I have the legs to help the boys.”

In the end though, Valter's Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammate, Olav Kooij, sprinted to victory on stage 9. "The victory was the only good thing of the day for me," Valter says. "I was asked to make a head turn, but it went so fast that I could never get to the front. My positioning wasn't that good. However, I also knew that they could do without me in the last ten kilometres, because sprinting is a different discipline than climbing in the mountains. I can lead the peloton until thirty kilometres from the finish, but no more after that."

"It is often the case with boys who fall. Some people get over it the next day and others need a little more time to do so. Eventually it will wear off with time and he will undoubtedly get better at it," Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Marc Reef adds of Valter's performance in the opening week. "The rest day will help with this, but focusing on the race and having a targeted task can also ensure that he makes progress in this regard. That will take time, but Jan Tratnik and Attila are fine."