Attila Valter is one of three Hungarian riders lining up at this year’s Giro d’Italia. The other two, Erik Fetter of Eolo-Kometa and Barnabás Peák of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert, will also enjoy rapturous support over the weekend – but there is no doubt that Valter is the prodigious son of Hungarian cycling. At last year’s Corsa Rosa, he became the first Hungarian to ever lead a major tour, wearing the maglia rosa for three days. In 2020, when Budapest’s Grande Partenza was cancelled due to Covid, Attila told us he feared that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had dissolved before his eyes. Now, two years on, whatever the outcome, his dream will finally become reality – as will the intoxicating pressure of the being the hometown hero, as Valter himself tells Daniel Friebe in our first Kilometre 0 of this year’s Giro.

Kilometre 0 by The Cycling Podcast is supported by Supersapiens. Supersapiens is a continuous glucose monitoring system that helps you make the right fuelling choices. See supersapiens.com The Cycling Podcast was founded in 2013 by Richard Moore, Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie.