Estonian home hero Lauri Tamm successfully defended his title at the 45th Tartu Rattaralli, winning the 135km UCI Gran Fondo World Series qualifier in 02:45:47 on Sunday morning in Lithuania. Local professional Akvile Gedraityte claimed the women’s honours in 02:46:01, edging compatriot Kristel Sandra Soonik by 33 seconds — a result that carries extra resonance for a rider who knows second place all too well.
One of the oldest mass-participation cycling events in Europe, with a history dating back to 1982, the Baltic region’s largest road cycling festival staged its 45th edition on a substantially redrawn course. Rather than heading south as in previous years, the 2026 routes turned north-east toward Vooremaa and the Lake Peipus area, a change prompted by road construction and the concurrent Estonian Aviation Days south of the city.
Tamm’s winning margin was tight but decisive. In 2025, the then 21-year-old chased down Karl Patrick Lauk inside the final kilometre to win in 02:48:13; Sunday’s winning time of 02:45:47 represented an improvement of more than two minutes, suggesting the open lakeside roads of the new northern course suited the fast-moving peloton even better. Oskar Nisu finished five seconds back in second, with Danish duo Asger Rojbek Sorensen and Nikolaj Mengel — both riding for Airtox-Carl Ras — taking third and fourth, respectively, just seconds further behind. Notable among the top ten was Jude Gabriel Francisco of the Philippines, adding international flavour to a field dominated by Estonians and Danes.
For Gedraityte, 25, the women’s victory was a long time coming. She has finished runner-up at the Lithuanian National Road Race Championships three times and runner-up at the national time trial championships four times — a pattern of near-misses that has marked her career at the highest domestic level.
The 135km distance is part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series, meaning top finishers in their age categories earn qualification places for the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in Japan later this year.
Photo Credit: Rattaralli
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