Young Danish rising start continues Lidl-Trek's run on podium finishes at the Tour de Hongrie.
Albert Withen Philipsen showed his talent and potential on Stage 3 in Hungary, climbing to third on the Gyöngyös-Kékestető summit finish.
The 18-year-old was supported by his Lidl-Trek teammates all day in anticipation of the a showdown on the slopes of the 11.5-kilometer climb, which had an average gradient of 5.6 percent.
At five kilometers to go, Tim Torn Teutenberg and Tim Declercq were still helping to pace the bunch before the final battle could begin on the steepest section with the ramps averaging 8.2 percent in the final three kilometers of the day.
An early move from XDS Astana rider, Harold Martín López saw the Ecuadorian go solo to take the stage win while behind, Philipsen was fighting to limit the losses and, in the end, he sprinted to third on the line from a group of five chasers, seven seconds back.
Philipsen now sits third on the general classification with two days of rolling terrain remaining, starting with a 153.6-kilometer race from Tata to Székesfehérvár on Stage 4.
What Albert said after the stage:
The race started pretty easy as most guys were saving energy for the climb and the Team did a fantastic job of keeping me safe and held me in the best possible position all the way until the final 3km. I tried my best to go for the win but missed the important move. We had a hard time coordinating in the chasing group and the gap got too big to close. In the final 500 meters, I went all-in to minimize the time loss and to try and secure a podium spot.
I was feeling quite good on the final climb but the racing opened up a bit earlier than I expected so it was hard to figuring out the best tactic.
With two stages left we definitely still have something to fight for. The stage tomorrow is looking really good for TTT [Tim Torn Teutenberg] so we will try our best to help him there. The last stage is a bit more complicated as it can both be a bigger sprint but also a fight for GC so, we will see how the race evolves and keep chasing the stage win and maybe have a chance to move up in the GC.
