He may be leading the Giro d'Italia right now aged just 22 years, but the last time Attila Valter made such big headlines it was for very different reasons.
Back in September, 2019, when the heavens opened at the World Road Championships in Yorkshire, the riders in the U23 men's TT came off worst. The course was hit with torrential rain and flooding during their test.
A couple of riders crash in spectacular fashion and Valter, then aged 21 years and riding for Hungary, was one of them, below, though he emerged without injury. Back then he was an unknown rider but he's clearly come a long way in the short time since his Worlds disaster.
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Valter was riding for the CCC Development Team, a Continental level squad, in 2019 and then went on to compete in the colours of the CCC's WorldTour team last year.
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However, when it closed at the end of last year after the pandemic hit its title sponsor very hard, the young Hungarian rider managed to hold his place at WorldTour level thanks to a one-year deal from Marc Madiot at Groupama-FDJ.
He did his future in the sport no harm with his ride during the Giro last year, his first Grand Tour. He climbed very solidly and also placed 9th on the final mountain stage; evidence of ability in three week races. He had also won the Tour de Hongrie earlier in the year.
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