KOMETA Sport
In addition to a conscious diet, regular exercise is also essential for staying healthy. By sponsoring both amateur and professional sporting events, organizations and initiatives, we encourage our customers to lead an active, health-conscious lifestyle. We've been supporting and helping several amateur sports events, since our goal is for the present and the future generations to live an active life, which would be impossible without setting a good example.
Over the last few years, cycling has become of high importance to us, as we try to find more and more points of connection to it. Giacomo Pedranzini met up with Ivan Basso, sports manager of the Alberto Contador Foundation, and with that, we’ve started our journey of supporting professional cycle sport.
The Alberto Contador Foundation
We’ve been supporting the Alberto Contador Foundation since 2018, which deals with important social questions, such as the fight against stroke, promoting the rehabilitation after stroke, and popularizing cycling. Apart from embracing social causes, the foundation has its own professional cycling team.
Iconic names in cycle sport: Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso
Alberto Contador, name-giver of the foundation and Ivan Basso, sports manager of the team are well-known in the world of sports, both of them being legendary cyclists. Alberto Contador has 2 Tour de France, 2 Giro d’Italia and 3 Vuelta a España victories, and is one of the 7 great cyclists, who emerged victorious in the three most prestigious cycling Grand Tour races. Ivan Basso retired from racing for his managerial duties after 2 Giro d’Italia wins.
History of the EOLO-Kometa Cycling Team
Kometa has had the team’s back since the beginning. The names changed, but Kometa remained a constant in the life of the team. Polartec-Kometa became Kometa, then Kometa-Xstra, and since 2021, EOLO-Kometa Cycling Team. With the arrival of Italian telecommunication company EOLO, the team moved up from continental classification to racing in the ProTeam category.
Kometa is not the only Hungarian aspect of the team, but currently 3 cyclists as well. In the middle of 2019, Márton Dina, and in the beginning of 2020, Erik Fetter signed their contracts. Both were members of the ProTeam until the end of 2022. In 2023, Márton joined another team, but Erik still strengthens the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team. Gergő Magyar has joined the reserve team in October 2020, followed by Bálint Feldhoffer and Balázs Pollner in the end of 2021. Since 2023, Bálint and Balázs have been stretching their wings in the U19.
Giro d'Italia
To our great delight, since the team has been competing at the ProTeam level, they have received a free pass to the Giro d'Italia, thus they have been able to compete twice in one of the most famous 3-week races. And in 2023, the 3rd three-week Italian competition awaits them. In 2021, Márton Dina, and in 2022, Erik Fetter were given a place in the squad. In addition, last year we could not only root for the Hungarian participants, but the Italian race itself started from our country, and the professional cyclists were competing on Hungarian roads for three days! Giacomo Pedranzini had an important role in the Grande Partenza, whose old dream could come true. Moreover, KOMETA's city, Kaposvár, hosted one of the Hungarian starts.
Main racing accomplishments - focusing on Hungarian competitors
The most successful day of 2021 is clearly related to the Giro d'Italia, when EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team cyclist Lorenzo Fortunato won the stage considered the most difficult of the race, ending on the Zoncolan mountain. We are also proud that both Hungarian cyclists completed the first three-week race of their lives, overall Dina Márton was 100th in 2021 and Erik Fetter was 83rd in 2022.
Both of them consistently train in a disciplined manner, and achieve good results in other races as well. For example, in 2021, Márton Dina wore the mountain jersey for 3 days in one of the most famous Italian road cycling races, the Coppi e Bartali, and then took 2nd place in the mountain points race in the Tour of the Alps race.
Erik Fetter won the Hungarian time trial championship in 2021 and 2022, and not only did he double this time, but he also took 4th place in the EC road cycling competition both times.
In August 2021, he also bagged a UCI first-class stage victory, as he was able to stand on the top of the podium at the final stage of the 4-day French race Tour du Limousin. In addition to the aforementioned Hungarian championship title, Erik Fetter finished in the TOP10 on several competition days in 2022. He won 2nd place and the white jersey at the Tour of South Bohemia, and he finished 12th in the U23 road race of the WC.
The Tour de Hongrie - as the organizers have stated - cannot start without the participation of the EOLO-KOMETA Cycling Team. Year after year, the Hungarian competitors of the team flash their talent here as well. In 2021, Fetter Erik reached 11th place on the stage going up to Kékestető, even though his participation came into question due to a fall the previous day. In 2019, Márton Dina came 2nd in the Hungarian race, and in 2022, he ended up in the 38th place with a lot of time spent in breakaway.
You can find out more about the team members' accomplishments on the following sites:
You can follow the latest news about the EOLO-Kometa Cycling Team on their Facebook page.