The men’s race came down to a thrilling five-rider sprint on the finish line. Malezsewski took the narrowest of victories in 3:23:39, just one second ahead of Estonia’s Kirill Tarassov (3:23:40). Latvia’s Maris Bogdanovics finished third in the same time.

 

“The course was beautiful, and I really enjoyed it,” said Malezsewski, who was racing in Estonia for the first time. The victory also earned the Belgian valuable points towards the UCI Gravel World Series ranking.

 

Tiffany Cromwell dominated the women’s race, taking the win in 3:53:41. Last year’s winner, Finland’s Karoliina Leinonen, finished second in 3:57:04, while Estonian gravel champion Aidi Gerde Tuisk took third in 4:01:13.

 

Cromwell built a lead of almost four minutes and held it to the finish.

 

“The course was challenging – not necessarily because of the climbs, but because of how varied it was. The atmosphere was great, and everything was very well organised,” Cromwell said after crossing the finish line.

 

A total of 3,446 riders from 16 countries started across the event’s four distances. Around 2,000 riders took part in the two longest races, the 123 km and 83 km UCI Gravel World Series qualifying distances.

 

First held in 1998, Tartu Bike Marathon previously hosted the European Mountain Bike Marathon Championships in 2009. This year marked the event’s first appearance in the UCI Gravel World Series.

 

Full results, including UCI Gravel World Series age-group results are available HERE