Next week, May 27-31, the country’s largest road cycling race, the Tour of Lithuania, will take place, featuring 23 teams from 4 continents. Over 100 cyclists, including some of the world’s most prominent cycling stars, will cover more than 850 kilometers over the five-day race.
The Tour of Lithuania will feature Dane Lasse Norman Leth, who won the omnium at the 2012 London Olympics and the Madison at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The “Reffe Co: Play Giant Store” team member has also won five world track cycling titles, most recently at the Santiago (Chile) championships last year.
“This will be my first time competing in the Tour of Lithuania. I am looking forward to racing in a country I’ve never competed in before and to testing myself and my team in a high-level five-day race. Although this is my debut in this particular race, our goal is clear: we’re coming to compete and take the initiative. We’re really looking forward to this challenge and want to see what we can achieve during these 5 days.” said L. N. Leth.
Last year, the overall winner was Estonian Martin Laas, who beat his compatriot Karl Kurits by just 7 seconds. The latter became the U23 group champion and will return to Lithuania with the highest goals.
“Last year’s race was very fun and well-organised – I enjoyed all 5 stages. The goal this year is to perform better than last year,” K. Kurits doesn’t hide his ambition to win.
Tour of Lithuania is the only competition for professionals of this level in the Baltic States. The race is assigned the UCI 2.2 category, so cyclists can earn ranking points, allowing them to compete for tickets to the world and European championships and even the Olympic Games.
The Tour of Lithuania race consists of five stages: cyclists will compete in Tauragė, Kėdainiai, Utena, Kaunas and Vilnius. Last year, no Lithuanians made it amongst the winners, the closest was Venantas Lašinis, who took fourth place in Tauragė. This year, the Lithuanian national team will be represented by Venantas Lašinis, Eimantas Gudiškis, Rokas Adomaitis, Olegas Ivanovas, Lukas Talačka and Edgaras Kovaliovas.
The Tour of Lithuania bicycle race is partially financed by state funds, administered by the National Sports Agency, and by the municipalities of Tauragė, Kėdainiai, Utena, Kaunas and Vilnius.
