The day started sunny and with warm weather, more than 380 participants went to the start in the 100km distance. Vivus.lv MTB marathon 100km distance crossed the border of Latvia and Estonia 11 times and took the participants along the best trails of the Veclaicene highlands. Many notable names stood on the starting line – the Cape Epic winners in the amateur competition Oskars Muižnieks with Lauri Purniņa and the second-place ladies Beāte Kovgere and Krista Pūcīte, as well as next year’s riders Ādolfs Žunna and Kārlis Krūmiņš, the multiple Estonian champion in the MTB marathon, as well as the Cape Epic participant in 2023 Greete Steinburg (Skoda/We Love Cycling Estonia) and also the multiple Latvian champion Katrīna Jaunslaviete-Kipure.
This year, the legendary cycling race MTB 100 km returned to the place where it was held for the first time in 2018. It started in the Estonian village of Jaunroze, just a few kilometers from Apes. Participants crossed the border of Latvia/Estonia 11 times, the highest point of the Baltics, Great Munamegi, could be seen from three places on the course – from Leģeņi hill, from Drusku hill and another hill.
The participants of the Kärcher marathon took to the track first to measure the 100-kilometer course. Although DTG/Mysport team drivers Oskars Muižnieks and Lauris Purniņš started the distance together and were in the lead together, Muižnieks broke away only at the end of the track and celebrated the victory. Purniņš finished in second place, losing 2 minutes and 41 minutes to the leader, while Sandijs Kļaviņš from the Ogre bicycle team finished in third place, losing 6 minutes and 50 seconds to the leader.
For the ladies, the fastest this time was Estonian Grete Steinburga (Skoda/We Love Cycling Estonia), who covered the distance in 4 hours and 41 seconds. Katrīna Jaunslaviete-Kipure, this year’s Latvian MTB and MTB XCO champion, crossed the finish line in second place. The overall leader lost 15 minutes to the winner, but the third place went to the Latvian champion in the criterium race and the winner of the first stage, Zane Prieda from the Giant&Liv team.
On the other hand, participants of the Latvian National Forests half-marathon distance had to cover a little less than half of the 100-kilometer distance. In the half-marathon distance, Oskars Ārgalis from the team Velohooligans/Ķeizari-1 celebrated his third victory, leaving junior Krišjānis Lejiņas in second place, who lost 14 seconds to the leader, third place for the winner of the second day of the Talsu stage, Rolandas Burcevs from the team Velo Express racing team.
In the women’s competition, as overall leader Krista Pūcīte started in the marathon, where she took 4th place, Lelde Ardava from the team Veloprofs/Trek celebrated her victory in the same way as in Talsos, who covered the distance in 2 hours and 2 minutes, in second place, losing less than 2 minutes, came multiple junior groups medalist and champion in the MTB marathon, Amanda Reilija Zariņa from the Baldones cycling department, and third place for Diana Šika from the LODES team
The overall leader Mārtiņš Ice from VeloLifestyle/SmiltenesBJSS celebrated the victory in Mangali’s teenage distance, Mārtiņš’s teammate Roberts Yudins took second place, and Raimonds Pilenieks from Ķekava NSS finished third. On the other hand, in the girls’ competition, Katrīna Hansone celebrated the victory, second place went to Viktorija Łudama from the MTB Grobiņa team, and third place to Samanta Roziņa.
Vivus.lv MTB Marathon is a normal MTB marathon in the forests of Latvia and Estonia, which offers participants the opportunity to be in nature at marathon or half-marathon distances for 19 years.
The special atmosphere of Apes and the large number of participants and spectators gave a special mood to the end of the season, so many thanks to everyone who made this season interesting and exciting! See you in the new 2025 MTB Marathon cycling season!
2024-09-13 01:39:34