Benoît Cosnefroy ended the Tour de Hongrie in second place overall, giving UAE Team Emirates-XRG another podium finish in a week that also brought success for the team’s development squad in Portugal.
The Frenchman finished safely in the peloton on the final stage in Hungary to secure second in the general classification, 40 seconds behind Jakob Söderqvist of Lidl-Trek.
It followed Cosnefroy’s stage two victory earlier in the race, when he broke clear to deny the sprinters and take his first win since joining UAE Team Emirates-XRG over the winter.
This was not a fresh breakthrough, but it did confirm his good run of form. Cosnefroy had already moved into contention earlier in the week and went into the final day still within reach of the race lead.
“We can be happy with our week in general, our stage victory was a beautiful one.”
UAE Team Emirates-XRG tried to test Söderqvist on stage five. Cosnefroy, Vegard Stake Laengen, Adrià Pericas and Sebastián Molano pushed into the front echelon when crosswinds hit with just over 20 kilometres left.
The move briefly looked dangerous, but a crash involving Söderqvist slowed the momentum. The race then came back together before the finish, where Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step took his third stage win of the week.
Molano finished 11th in the sprint, while Cosnefroy crossed the line with the main group to keep second overall. Pericas also finished seventh on general classification for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
“We can be happy with our week in general, our stage victory was a beautiful one,” Cosnefroy said.
“Obviously we would have liked the overall victory too but it wasn’t to be. Personally I’m on a strong run of form and hope to continue it into the next part of the season.”
There was more success for the UAE setup at the Volta a Portugal do Futuro, where UAE Team Emirates Gen Z ended the race with the overall title and three stage wins.
Davide Stella won the final stage, while teammate Matvei Boldyrev secured the general classification. The 18-year-old finished one minute and 27 seconds ahead of teammate Jaime Torres, who completed a one-two on the final podium for the Emirati development team.
Boldyrev had already won two stages earlier in the race, before Stella added another victory on stage four.
For Stella, the win carried extra meaning. The 20-year-old Italian was racing his first stage race since recovering from a crash at the AlUla Tour in January.
He won the final sprint in Portugal, with teammate Marcos Freire also finishing inside the top 10 on the day.
Boldyrev’s overall win was his first stage race title in UAE Team Emirates colours.
Tour de Hongrie final general classification
- Jakob Söderqvist, Lidl-Trek, 16:57:21
- Benoît Cosnefroy, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +40 seconds
- Luke Plapp, Jayco AlUla, +49 seconds
- Adrià Pericas, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:21
Volta a Portugal do Futuro final general classification
- Matvei Boldyrev, UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, 14:19:54
- Jaime Torres, UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, +1:27
- Jesse Maris, Technosylva Rower Bembibre, +1:49
