Sam Welsford comfortably wins the opening stage of Tour de Hongrie: "In the sprint I had a good position and really good legs"

Today, Tour de Hongrie kicked off with a simple stage with just 200 meters of elevation. After the breakaway of smaller teams got reeled in, it was Sam Welsford's turn to prove his worth. In a fast finale, the BORA - hansgrohe fast man had no competition and convincingly won the stage ahead of Italians Samuel Quaranta and Jakub Mareczko.

"Everyone was quite nervous about the wind in the first half of the stage. Ultimately the wind wasn’t strong enough and so we’ve had quite a relaxed day until we hit the finishing circuit. Hats off the the breakaway, they did a pretty good job staying away from the bunch. In the sprint I had a good position, used other team’s trains and had really good legs to take my first win here in Hungary," said Welsford in press release.

Tomorrow's stage from Tokaj to Kazincbarcika could offer one more opportunity for sprinters, but two short climbs on the final circuit around Kazincbarcika could provoke some attacks and turn the tides of the stage.