Tartu (Estonia) – friday 26 may 2023 - Filippo Fortin, pedalling for the German team Maloja Pushbikers, won the Tour of Estonia Tallinn-Tartu stage held today. Second place went to Estonian Markus Pajur (Team Tartu2024) and the runner-up was Dutchman Roy Eefting, the winner's teammate.

Before today's 193.4 km long Tallinn-Tartu stage, most of the teams were expecting crosswinds and nervous driving, but in the end a quite large group arrived in Tartu, and the winner was decided on the cobblestone uphill of the Lossi street.

Stage winner Fortin said after the finish that he was very satisfied with his and his team's performance: "There was a lot of crosswinds, and the ride was nervous, but I tried to keep myself in the shadows and not work too much in front."

Fortin, who also got the green jersey, said: "I came to the final climb in a good position, and from there on I just had to push hard."

Fortin's teammate and eventual third-place finisher Roy Eefting won both hill sprints today and will wear the red jersey for tomorrow's stage. "The plan for tomorrow is that we will definitely defend the yellow jersey," added Fortin at the end of the post-stage interview.

Markus Pajur, who took second place in the first stage, felt bad in the first half of the stage: "I actually stayed in the back group a couple of times, but luckily for me the groups always ran together and towards the end I felt much better. I wasn't really in the ideal position for the climb towards the finish, but at the end I actually passed quite a few riders."

After today's stage, the overall classification has the same order as the stage: Filippo Fortin, Pajur in second place and Eefting in third place. Lithuanian Rokas Adomaitis (Tartu2024) got the best young rider's jersey, and the best team was Maloja Pushbikers.

Tomorrow's program starts with the Ladies Tour of Estonia (104.2 km) and then the second and last stage of the Tour of Estonia, the Tartu GP (164.8 km) is held.

On Sunday, the popular race 42. Tartu Rattaralli will take place, where almost 3,000 amateurs will ride together with professional cyclists. There are 128, 60 and 27 km distances to choose from. The 128 km distance also belongs to the UCI Gran Fondo World Series calendar.