With the route passing through Town Hall Square, the legendary Lossi climb, and the Vanemuine climb, the organizers can be proud (and of course grateful to the City of Tartu) for a spectacular course that showcased iconic locations in the city. Riders completed 16 laps of the 10.1 km circuit.
Only 57 riders completed the stage—and therefore the entire tour—meaning roughly half of the peloton did not finish. The heavy rain that hit Tartu played a major role, causing crashes and making the race more dangerous and difficult than usual.
As mentioned earlier, Hansen and the two Swedes (Ville Merlöv and Isak Magnusson) broke away from the peloton on the second lap. About 50 kilometers from the finish, Magnusson dropped back.
It was somewhat surprising that it was the Dane who stayed out front alone and triumphed solo, especially considering he had been trailing yesterday’s winner Marceli Boguslawski (Poland) by just 28 seconds in the general classification. This highlights both Hansen’s excellent form and a lack of cooperation in the peloton. Ultimately, Hansen beat Merlöv by 35 seconds and fellow Dane Niklas Larsen by 55 seconds. The peloton crossed the line 1 minute and 14 seconds after the winner.
"After the start, it began to rain, but somehow I found myself in the breakaway with two strong Swedish riders. When the rain stopped, I heard we had a three-minute lead on the others. That’s when I thought we had a chance to stay away until the end. I told the others to go all-in, and we cooperated very well," Hansen said.
Was he surprised he managed to stay ahead until the end? "Yeah, I was. But honestly, I believed quite early that it was possible. You have to believe and be a little stupid—in a good way—otherwise it’ll never happen."
Racing in the rain in a city is always risky and slippery, but being in a small breakaway group gave them an advantage. "When you're with just a couple of guys, you can better pick your lines through all the corners, and the risk of crashing is lower. So for us, it was actually beneficial to be in the breakaway," explained Hansen, who finished ninth in last year’s Tour of Estonia.
In the final general classification, Hansen beat Larsen by 52 seconds and Boguslawski by exactly one minute.
The full results for the Tour of Estonia Tartu GP and general classification can be found here.
Tomorrow, the Holy Grail of Estonian road cycling—the 44th Tartu Rattaralli—will take place, featuring thousands of recreational riders. Many of the teams who took part in the tour will also be on the start line. More info: www.tartumaraton.ee
