The Tour of Lithuania, the biggest road cycling race in the Baltic States, is nearing its end. The fourth stage of the competition took place in Kaunas on Saturday. Briton Dylan Hicks (UN Cycling Team) triumphed, while Eimantas Gudiškis once again finished close to the top three.
The cyclists covered 164.71 km in Kaunas and the city’s surroundings. From the very start of the race, the peloton rode actively: the speed reached 70 km/h in places, and attack after attack followed on the route. The decisive attack occurred 43 kilometers before the finish, when D. Hicks and German Julian Borresch (Rembe I rad-net) broke away. The leaders managed to maintain their advantage until the end of the race, and the winner was revealed at the finish line.
“The sprints were tight, so my team and I tried to stick to the plan we had set before the race. We tried all day, but something kept going wrong, so I pulled back a little and tried to climb again with about 40 kilometers to go. Another guy and I built a lead pretty quickly,” commented D. Hicks, who took the victory.
Latvian Martin Pluto, representing the Energus Cycling Team, took third place. With him were the overall leader Italian Alexander Konychev (China Anta – Mentech Cycling Team), German Benjamin Boos (Rembe I rad-net) and E. Gudiškis, a member of the Lithuanian national team, finished sixth.
“Today, from the start, we wanted to be in the breakaway, I tried many times, but no one broke away. It seemed that everyone was attacking all day, so after half the race I could barely lift my ass. Then two competitors escaped, I tried to jump off alone, but I realized that I wouldn’t catch up, so I went back. The “Energus” team tried to catch up, and I saved up for the finish. The “mess” at the finish was so bad that it was hard to even understand, I went into the turn second, but at the end I didn’t have enough legs and I ended up fourth in that group, and sixth overall,” – described the course of the day E. Gudiškis.
On Sunday, the fourth Tour of Lithuania race will finish at Valakampiai Second Beach, Vilnius, with an expected finish time of 2:50 p.m.
There were no changes in the overall standings: the yellow leader’s jersey is worn by A. Konychevas, who is also leading in the points standings, the green jersey (most active cyclist) is worn by the Estonian Raitas Armas (Energus Cycling Team), and the white jersey (best U23 cyclist) is worn by the Estonian Lauri Tammas (Estonian national team).
The most successful Lithuanian in the competition is Rokas Adomaitis (Lithuanian national team), who is 6th in the overall standings and 2nd among U23 cyclists.
The Tour of Lithuania is the largest road cycling race in the Baltic States, assigned the 2.2 category by the International Cycling Union (UCI). The competition is partially financed by state funds, administered by the National Sports Agency, and by the municipalities of Tauragė, Kėdainiai, Utena, Kaunas and Vilnius.
