Cyclists covered 164.71 km in Kaunas and its surroundings. From the start of the race, the peloton was active – speeds reached up to 70 km/h in places, and attacks followed one after another on the course. The decisive attack happened 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 decided on the final straight.
“The sprints were intense, so with the team we tried to stick to the plan we set before the race. We tried all day, but something kept going wrong, so I pulled back a bit and about 40 kilometers from the finish tried to climb again. I and another guy quickly created a lead,” commented D. Hicks, who won the race.
Third place went to Latvian Martin Pluto representing “Energus Cycling Team,” who competed in the final straight with 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 who finished sixth.
“Today from the start we wanted to get into breakaways, I tried many times, but no one broke away. It seemed like everyone attacked all day, so after half the race I could barely lift my butt. Then two rivals broke away, I tried to jump alone, but realized I wouldn’t catch them, so I returned. The ‘Energus’ team tried to close that gap, and I saved myself for the finish. The finish was such a ‘mess’ that it’s hard to understand, I entered the turn second, but at the end I ran out of legs and finished fourth in that group, and sixth overall,” described E. Gudiškis the day’s events.
On Sunday, the fourth stage of the “Tour of Lithuania” will finish at the second beach of Valakampiai in Vilnius, with the expected finish time at 14:50.
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There were no changes in the overall standings: the yellow leader’s jersey is worn by A. Konychev, who also leads the points classification; the green jersey (most active cyclist) by Estonian Raitas Armas (“Energus Cycling Team”); and the white jersey (best U23 cyclist) by Estonian Lauri Tammas (Estonian national team).
The most successful Lithuanian in the race is Rokas Adomaitis (Lithuanian national team), who is in 6th place overall and 2nd among U23 cyclists.
“Tour of Lithuania” is the largest road cycling race in the Baltic countries, classified as category 2.2 by the International Cycling Union (UCI). The race is partially funded by state funds administered by the National Sports Agency, as well as by the municipalities of Tauragė, Kėdainiai, Utena, Kaunas, and Vilnius.
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