Новости

A week before the tour we talked to Jaan Kirsipuu, Sports Director of Ampler Development Team, and Alo Jakin, a representative of the Estonian National team. Mihkel Räim, who won the tour in 2019, also spoke about his current situation and plans for the tour.

According to Kirsipuu, considering the general classification of the tour, Finnish Antti Jussi Juntunen is the leader of the team, but he thinks Joonas Kurits could also do something on the first day. "The second day is not the hardest, but the route is definitely very technical. The cobblestone that goes uphill on Lossi street is difficult and then they immediately have to go downhill that’s also cobblestone and then to Vanemuise hill,” he says.

The main favorite of the Estonian National team is Martin Laas, who rides in the Bora – Hansgrohe professional cycling team. “It all depends on how the first stage goes and we can make changes according to it. The second day will be quite difficult, but for Peeter Pruus, who represents Estonia in cycling road race at the Olympics, this should be a good course,” says Jakin, a representative of the Estonian National team. He believes that the tour will also be affected by the fact that this year there won’t be a team that controls the whole race, like it was in 2019 with Israel Cycling Academy.

Of course, Mihkel Räim, who took the overall victory of the tour in 2019, is also a favorite. "I feel pretty okay, but I had some health issues on Alpes Isere Tour and was not able to continue.  Fortunately this problem is relatively easy to solve (at least I hope so)," explains Räim.

Räim is enthusiastic about the new course in Tartu and states that it’s interesting and he’s been waiting for something like this for a long time. “I think that the harder course is even better for our team,” says Räim.

"It certainly will not be easy, but our main goal is victory. I believe that there will be a really exciting competition with the Estonian National team. In addition, it’s worth keeping an eye on the riders from the Voster and Ribble team," he states.

The Tour of Estonia will take place on 28th-29th of May and spectators are not allowed on this year's race due to the current restrictions. People can watch LIVE broadcast from Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) sports portal.

The UCI 2.1 category cycling tour will last for two days. It will bring 16 teams with more than 100 riders to the start line. There will be: one professional continental team, nine continental teams (including the Mazowsze-Serce Polski, where Mihkel Räim rides) and six national teams.