Revamped Tour of Estonia cycling race starts Thursday

The 13th Tour of Estonia international cycle race gets underway on Thursday and brings some changes to the format.

The races take place across three days, featuring a new prologue at the iconic Pirita Velodrome.

The most significant innovation at this year's tour is that preliminary stage itself, which will be held on Thursday evening. Each racer is required to ride one kilometer, or three laps of the velodrome.

The velodrome was opened in 1969 and while it was decommissioned nearly a decade ago due to safety issues, these have been rectified enough for the three-lap preliminary stage in the tour. The circuit came back under the spotlight with last year's "Meie Erika," a biopic of Estonian Olympic gold medal-winning track cyclist Erika Salumäe.

"The idea came from a colleague and former professional cyclist, Gert Kivistik, who previously raced in a similar format during a cycling tour on the island of Martinique. The film 'Meie Erika' also inspired us to explore the concept further, because track cycling is still something iconic in Estonia. We thought it could be an exciting idea to test at the Tour of Estonia," the race's chief organizer, Indrek Kelk, told ERR.

Major changes have also been made to Friday's Tallinn–Tartu stage. Although the route largely resembles last year's, the race distance has risen, with riders expected to cover a total of 203 kilometers this year. This longer distance results from a change in the location of the technical start line.

Saturday's Tartu GP will also take place on an updated course. Riders will complete 14 laps instead of the previous 16, again because the circuit is longer. "We are bringing back part of the old and well-loved Jakobi hill climb, which means the section of the city circuit through the Old Town and around Toomemägi will change slightly. Unfortunately, we have to leave out Vanemuise hill. Lossi Street and Jakobi hill remain, but in a somewhat different form from recent years," Kelk added.

Estonian national team rider Oskar Nisu said the home team has a strong chance of competing for top positions this year. "The national team is strong and well balanced, and we have many different cards to play. If we ride well, we can turn any race scenario to our advantage," Nisu explained.

In addition to Nisu, the Estonian national team competing at this year's Tour of Estonia is: Romet Pajur, Markus Pajur, Norman Vahtra, Markus Mäeuibo, Lauri Tamm and Karl Patrick Lauk.