Tartu Grand Prix

Tartu Grand Prix 12 x 12,5km

9:00 - 19:00        Race Office open at the finish area in Tartu (Turu Str 10, in front of Aura centre)
13:10 - 13:50       Signing of the starting sheet on the startarea podium
14:00                   Start of the Tartu Grand Prix on Turu Str.
14:25                   Hill sprint 1: 2nd lap on Vanemuine hill (estimated time)
15:10                   Sprint 1: 4th lap (estimated time)
16:15                   Sprint 2: 8th lap (estimated time)
16:40                   Hill sprint 2: 10th lap on Vanemuine hill (estimated time)
17:30                   Expected finish of the winner
17:45                   Awards ceremony for the winner of the stage 15 min after finish of the winner
                              Final awarding ceremony of Tour of Estonia 2013
18:00                   Press conference
22:00                   Farewell party of Tour of estonia 2013 for invited guests and teams in night club Atlantis
23:00                  Tour of Estonia 2013 afterparty in night club Atlantis

With a history that dates to 1030, Tartu is one of the oldest communities in the Baltic States, as well as Estonia’s second largest city with approximately 100 000 inhabitants. The gateway to Southern Estonia, Tartu is home to a medieval Hanseatic trade center and a modern university city renowned for its scientific achievements. It is the cradle of the Estonian Song Festival, Estonian Theatre and the Estonian State.

Tartu’s elegant Town Hall Square in lined with classical buildings is pastel shades and al fresco cafes. The cobblestoned plaza has long been a gathering spot for citizens and visitors, particularly the city’s large student population. Forty percent of Tartu’s residents are connected with Tartu University. In recognition of this youthful spirit, in 1998 a sculpture of two kissing students was erected in front of the city’s Town Hall.

Tartu University is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe, founded in 1632 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden during the era that Estonia was ruled by Sweden. Tartu University has produced many eminent scientists and scholars of international repute such as Baltic German biologist Karl Ernst von Baer and famous Russian semiotician and culturologist Juri Lotman.

Walking around in Tartu old town one should step in to Tartu Toy Museum which transports its adult visitors back to their most joyous childhood days and offers children plenty to see and do. The permanent exhibit displays toys that children in Estonia have played with throughout the ages. The museum also has play and workshop rooms.

The alley next to Aura Water Center is the ‘base’ in Tartu of Tour of Estonia – it is where Tallinn-Tartu GP finishes, Tartu GP starts and finishes and Tartu Rattaralli starts and finishes. The Aura Centre was opened on 1 October 2001. There pool, water park, health club, saunas, light therapy centre, V-salon, Cafe and during summer also a sun terrace.

Families with children will have a great time at the AHHAA science centre – the biggest of its kind in the Baltic States – which has attractions for the young and old alike. The purpose of AHHAA is to introduce science to everyone.

Science and history merge and come alive on Tartu’s waterways.  Visitors can experience the area as long-ago inhabitants did by cruising on Emajõgi River, Lake Võrtsjärv, and Lake Peipsi on an Emajõe-Peipsi barge, a unique wooden trading vessel. In Estonia Peipsi barges have sailed the inland bodies of water for more than 600 years, from the 14^th century until the middle of the 20th century. The Nature Bargetrips are meant to educate people about the nature in the areas that are inaccessible by land, with trips taking place from spring to autumn.