Thibau Nys disappointed despite overall victory, shrewd Poels strikes in sprint

While Thibau Nys secured the overall victory in the Tour of Hungary on Sunday, Wout Poels triumphed in the final stage. The Dutch climber won the sprint on the final climb from a select group. It was a significant boost for Poels, especially considering that he was overlooked for the Giro d'Italia earlier this month.

Initially, Poels lost ground when Emanuel Buchmann accelerated in the last kilometer. "I was really struggling," Poels admits in the flash interview. "I was just off the back but could maintain my own pace. Fortunately, the course leveled off in the last 150 meters, where I could snatch the victory."

Poels' difficulty on the final climb was due to an earlier attack on the penultimate climb. "On the second-to-last climb, I tried to force the pace to spread out the group. It didn't really work, so I decided to save all my energy for the end."

Thanks to the stage win, Poels moved up to third place in the overall standings. The rider from Limburg in the Netherlands reflects on a successful week. "It was a fantastic atmosphere with all those people along the road, it's very nice to end the Tour of Hungary with a stage win."

Nys not entirely satisfied after missing hat-trick

While Nys was unbeatable in the previous stages, this time he had nothing left for the sprint. The young Belgian of Lidl-Trek finished fourth, which was more than enough for the overall victory. "I'm very tired, it was a tough finale," Nys said in the flash interview. "I had a really good feeling, right from the start of the race I felt very strong. But the first time up the climb was very tough. I started to struggle more than I had anticipated. The second time was better. I felt I could recover well from the climbs and the efforts."

"In the end, I'm disappointed that I didn't win a third stage in a row," Nys has mixed feelings about the final day. "But I was too preoccupied with the GC. I didn't want to leave any gaps, and that's where I lost the stage. The classification was too important. But I am happy, it was a good week."