Uudised

„We are all good friends. We do not have a leader at the moment, the position will be cleared out during the race tomorrow,“ said 21 years old Mihkel Räim, one of the most experienced riders in the Estonian National Team at the tour. „The older cyclists are stronger, but the the younger team members can surprise us.  However, I think the younger cyclists will have a supportive role this time, guided and supervised by the older and more experienced teammates,“ Räim added.

 

According to Toivo Suvi, the Head Coach of Estonian National Team, unfortunately the Estonian top cyclists could not come to participate. „The reason is simple – their teams did not allow them to participate in Tour of Estonia,“ he said and added that most probably the winner of the tour will be decided by the amount of the bonus  seconds  this year again.

 

Additionally to Räim more experinced riders in the Estonian team are Risto Raid, Timmo Jeret and Martin Laas who we remeber from last years’ Tour of Estonia first stage where he was involved in a showy crash in the finish line but managed to escape only with scratches.

 

Pro-continental team Novo Nordisk is one of the most outstanding teams this year. They are the first ever all-diabetics pro cycling team in the world.

 

„Our team is different from others but the difference is not as big as you might expect,“ said one of the riders of Team Novo Nordisk American Ben Dilley. „All of our riders are first stage diabetics. Ofcourse we have to measure blood sugar levels during training and races and we also have a special team doctors, but all in all we race same way as all the others“.

 

Tour of Estonia starts tomorrow with the Tallinn-Tartu stage. Trickiest part may be the 6km long gravel road at the middle of the stage. „The gravel road part is in the stage mostly because of road works on the main road. Because of that we have to make detour and this also involves a gravel road,“ said race director Indrek Kelk. „There are some rocks  and you have to be cautious“.

 

Second and also the last stage of Tour of Estonia will be ridden on Saturday on the streets of Tartu. Both stages will be broadcasted live on Club Tartu Maraton webpage and on Tour of Estonia webpage. On Friday live picture will be available only from the finish, on Sunday the whole stage will be live.

 

Live Estonian and English blog will also available on Tour of Estonia webpage.

 

On Sunday 34th Tartu Rattaralli will take place with more than 4000 cyclists in the start. Tartu Rattaralli will also be live on Club Tartu Marathon webpage.

 

Link to live broadcast and live blog here!

 

 

Photo: Tarmo Haud