The Tour of Lithuania, the biggest road cycling race for professionals in the Baltic States, has concluded. Of the 121 cyclists who started, 96 reached the finish line of the multi-day race. Among them, Rokas Adomaitis secured a high sixth place in the overall standings. The champion title went to the Italian Alexander Konychev (China Anta – Mentech Cycling Team), who had led since the first stage.
Over five days, cyclists in Lithuania covered more than 850 kilometers. The multi-day race began in Tauragė, the second stage took place in Kėdainiai, the third in Utena, the fourth in Kaunas, and today the participants crossed the finish line in Vilnius.
In the last stage, Estonian Karl Kurits triumphed, outpacing fellow Estonian national team member Lauris Tamm and A. Konychev in the finishing sprint. Milliseconds separated Latvian Martinas Pluto (Energus Cycling Team), who finished fourth, from fifth-place finisher Lithuanian national team member Eimantas Gudiškis.
“It’s a shame that I’m the first Lithuanian, and not the first of all. The day is interesting anyway, there was an early breakaway and a lot of people broke away, which suited everyone, except for us, the Latvians and maybe the leaders’ team. Big thanks to my team, who organized everything well, and the men had to work hard so we would have a chance to reach the finish line and try to win the stage. Everything went well, but not a single day did I have such legs that I could fully explode. My legs were heavy all day, I was waiting for the day to be mine, but I never got it. Overall, this result will be pleasing tomorrow, but we wanted to win the stage and place in the Top-10 in the overall standings. The second goal was achieved, but the stage win was missing, so I’m a little disappointed about this day, but maybe we’ll come back,” commented E. Gudiškis.
R. Adomaitis competed actively in the Vilnius stage: before the decisive stage, the Lithuanian, who was sixth overall and second among the U23 athletes, even participated in several breakaways at the end of the race. With just over 20 kilometers remaining, the athlete broke away from a group of 13 people, but the peloton caught up with them with 13 km to go. After another 6 km, R. Adomaitis tried to attack alone, but was unable to break away from the group.
“The fifth stage, the fifth day, sixth in the overall standings – there was nothing to lose, I could only gain something better. I had to think all day that I would definitely make a move somewhere at the end. I tried, failed and after that I didn’t give up too much, because we have a very good sprinter Eimantas. I gave everything I could in the last kilometers at the front of the group and we have Eimantas’ fifth place today. We’re all very happy with my sixth-place finish in the overall standings, so we achieved half of the Lithuanian team’s goals. We were missing a victory in the stage and everything would have been according to plan,” said R. Adomaitis.
The Klaipėda native was most successful in the second stage in Kėdainiai, where he finished fifth. Since then, our rider has been sixth in the overall standings and maintained this position until the end of the race.
A. Konychev, who became the champion, demonstrated amazing stability: he won the first stage, finished fourth in the second, third and fourth, and third in Vilnius.
“It’s always a great feeling to win. I knew that we had a good chance to keep the yellow jersey until the end, but in a race like this, especially when we had to fight against strong winds during the first three days, anything can happen. I’m proud of how we rode, the team was around me all day and we were able to achieve victory. Which stage was the most difficult? The first two were extra stressful because of the wind, I always had to be focused, but I had good legs. I attacked on the first day and won, on the second day I also tried to attack, but at the same time I kept the leader’s jersey – everything worked out,” said A. Konychev.
The Italian also won the points overall (54 points), while the white jersey was won by Lauri Tammas, who performed most successfully in the U23 group, and the green jersey, awarded to the most active cyclist, by another Estonian, Raitas Armas (Energus Cycling Team).
The Tour of Lithuania is the largest road cycling race in the Baltic States, classified in the 2.2 category of the International Cycling Union (UCI). The competition is partially financed by state funds administered by the National Sports Agency, as well as by the municipalities of Tauragė, Kėdainiai, Utena, Kaunas and Vilnius.
