Estonia’s famous Tartu Rattaralli bicycle festival joined the UCI this season as a qualifying event for the 2022 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships with almost 5000 cyclists attending the 41st edition of the multi-day cycling festival 28-29 May.

In the 128 kilometer gran fondo race, 1107 amateur road racers from 27 countries were vying for coveted starting bibs at the upcoming world championships.

In the women’s category, it was a three-up all Estonian sprint to the finish, with Mari Kruuser (3:15:12) winning her world championship starting bib by defeating Kerttu Liis Laane (3:15:15) and European Cycling Union (UEC) champion Kristi Kuldepp (3:15:16).

In the men’s category it was a 32 year-old former professional cyclist from Latvia who won the men’s category in 3:00:12, five minutes ahead of fellow Latvian Girts Gevers (3:05:18), who finished second after outsprinting the Finnish Johan Nordlund (3:05:18).

Riders finishing in the top 20% of their age/gender category automatically qualified to race in the amateur UCI Gran Fondo World Championships scheduled in Trento, Italy this coming September.

In the 128km elite non-qualifying Tartu Rattaralli road race, local 17 year-old Romet Pajur sprinted to victory from a 10 man group to win in 2:27:24, while Norwegian Malin Eriksen won the elite women’s race in 3:03:08.

Complete Tartu Rattaralli gran fondo men’s results, women’s results.

Photos: Tartu Rattaralli