Cyclists had to take Vanemuise and Lossi street climbs for 16 times (162 km in total).
The race was exciting because someone constantly attacked, but on the final laps the group was still together. On the last lap, when they got to the city center, Mihkel Räim took the leading role. He was followed by the Estonian National team, whitch was led by Norman Vahtra. When the group turned to the Lossi street, the first man was Martin Laas, who was followed by two Polish men: Adrian Banaszek (Mazowsze – Serce Polski) and Maciej Paterski (Voster ATS Team). Laas was the first to cross the finish line, the Poles were three seconds behind.
According to the stage winner Martin Laas, the Estonian National Team had plans for today, but he wasn’t sure how it turns out during the race. "We did very well, we were in good condition all the time. There was never a feeling that the ride was starting to slip out from our hands or become difficult," Laas explained.
According to him, feeling was good and the climb of Lossi Street suited him well. "I felt that this climb suited me very well. My form has developed in the last few years and it definitely plays a role. I have had difficult races in Belgium before and it gave me more confidence," he stated.
Karl Patrick Lauk, who won the Tour of Estonia for the second time, admitted that several technical failures occurred during the race and not everything went as planned. "Right at the beginning of the ride I had to take a new bike, because the brakes were gone and there is no way to ride this course without them. This new bike was quite uncomfortable, but I got used to it. During the last couple of laps, the gears on the bike no longer worked well, because the battery was empty," Lauk explained. However, he admitted that the feeling was good and in fact everything went well. "In the end it was all good. Feeling of satisfaction will come a little later," said Lauk, the winner of the Tour of Estonia 2021.
98 cyclists took part in today's Tartu Grand Prix stage, 52 finished the race.
Overall the most active rider, who also got a green shirt, was Martin Laas. Marceli Boguslawski from Poland got the red shirt (Mountain King), Antti Jussi Juntunen from Finland (Ampler Development Team) got the white shirt (best young rider). The best team was the Estonian National team.
The results of Tartu GP can be found from HERE.
Video of the last kilometer is HERE.
