Cycling in baltics

[Christian]

Hello

Cyclists from Latvia, Estonia and especially Lithuania have been doing really well in the last couple of years. They are always easy to spot because of their cool names. Most recently of course Navardauskas in the Giro and others include Kruopis, Bagdonas, Juodvalkis, Smukulis, Taaramäe and probably many others that I am forgetting. In Luxembourg we have brothers Vytautas and Gediminias Kaupas riding for CT Differdange.

I recently found out that there was even a lithanian Continental Team, Team Piemonte (http://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/team.asp?year=2009&teamcode=PMT) but it seems to have ended at the end of May 2009. Since I know very little about these countries I have been intrigued by the surprising amount of high quality riders they produce. It doesn't seem to be a new phenomenon, AG2R for example have a lithuanian DS with Arturas Kasputis who used to ride for them and won some races. In 1991, Kasputis and 6 of his compatriots got signed by Colombian team Postobon Manzana after impressing for two years in a row at the Tour of Colombia.

I guess my question is does anyone know the situation of cycling in the baltic states? Are they cycling-crazy nations, do people follow the ProTour? I seem to remember that internet connections are not the best in some areas so that could be a problem. Do people ride their bikes a lot, are the roads good for cycling? Is it a hilly or mostly pancake-flat terrain?

Do they have a continental team at the moment? Do they have talented youngsters who could make an impact among the professional ranks in years to come? Do they have national races?

I know those are a lot of questions and a weird subject to be interested in but for some reason those countries are intriguing to me and I hope to be able to visit them one day. Until then good luck to all baltics cyclists

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

in estonia cycling is very popular. latvia not so I think. lithuania is ok. I think lithuania is more woman cycling but I don't rteally follow that. in estonia though liek I said cycling is very big. they have many cycling clubs and races there.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Terrain is very flat for the most part, but they have two Continental teams, both Latvian:
Alpha Baltic-Unitymarathons.com
Rietumu-Delfin

There are two UCI .1 rated races in the area - the Tartu GP and the Tallinn-Tartu GP, which both take place in Estonia in late May. A lot of the time it features mostly national sides and some Scandinavian teams.

A lot of the time national teams from the Baltic Chain countries appear in the Russian national calendar and sometimes in races in Poland too.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Oldborn would have been very useful here. Sadly he is permanently banned.

 

[jens_attacks]

let's not forget the legends:

 

[Von Mises]

In Estonia cycling is indeed very popular. Calendar is quite intense, both on and off-road, participants are mostly same on and off-road. There are lot of races for amateurs, hobbysts and semi-professionals. For instance many companys have their own cycling clubs for their eployees. List of higher level races is at the same time quite thin (country is small at the end), so it is pretty standard practise that juniors, U23 and Elite are riding together. Further on, many races are open to both - amateurs/hobbysts and competitive athletes, usually amateurs are taking shorter/easier route and "pros" longer/harder one.


For those who want to become professionals the rout has been pretty much the same for last 20 years: at first you have to show smth locally, then you go to French amateur team and then, if strong enough, to French pro-team.

To sum up: active and popular local scene + French connection for future pros.

 

[TomTiddle]

I live in Latvia...road cycling exists but mountain biking is by far more popular. You will see more M/b'ers on the road than anything.

However, there are some speedy roadies here as well, but almost no races to speak of. If you want to race you can head to Lithuania, Estonia or jump the hoops and get to Russia I suppose ( haven't investigated that...).

It is flat and can be windy. The roads range from good to awful. I have to ride a little over 26 miles to the nearest hill. 7% for less than 1/4 mile up one side, 5% for around 1/4 mile up the other side. I could head out to the river valley in Sigulda. There are some nice hills that way and a huge race in September.

I came here from Italy, so I really miss the mountains (and food...). Regardless, it is a lovely place and I enjoy riding and exploring very much!

Just my 2 santims...

 

[Michele]

He's still racing for Champion System.

The U23 Palazzago team from Italy used to "source" a lot of U23 talents from Lithuania; never got to hear how the connection was made.
The "sad side" is that they were usually so "finished" at the end of their U23 career that they wouldnt impress much in the pro ranks as you would expect.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I live in Latvia...road cycling exists but mountain biking is by far more popular. You will see more M/b'ers on the road than anything.

However, there are some speedy roadies here as well, but almost no races to speak of. If you want to race you can head to Lithuania, Estonia or jump the hoops and get to Russia I suppose ( haven't investigated that...).

It is flat and can be windy. The roads range from good to awful. I have to ride a little over 26 miles to the nearest hill. 7% for less than 1/4 mile up one side, 5% for around 1/4 mile up the other side. I could head out to the river valley in Sigulda. There are some nice hills that way and a huge race in September.

I came here from Italy, so I really miss the mountains (and food...). Regardless, it is a lovely place and I enjoy riding and exploring very much!

Just my 2 santims...

I think the tc meant moslty how popular it is in tv and fans etc.

one country that amazed me in how many amateur roadcyclists I would say training, was poland. I was there 10 years ago. mostly in the south and I don't think I've ever seen a place with more cyclists then there

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

He's still racing for Champion System.

The U23 Palazzago team from Italy used to "source" a lot of U23 talents from Lithuania; never got to hear how the connection was made.
The "sad side" is that they were usually so "finished" at the end of their U23 career that they wouldnt impress much in the pro ranks as you would expect.

also manu belarussians. mostly them. they were all doped in that team and indeed finished up by the time becoming pro. samoilav for instance was a HUGE talent