Despite last week's warmth, today the legendary Tartu Maraton was held on the classic Otepää-Elva 63-kilometer track. The finish time of the winner Emil Persson was 2:33.06.

 

Shortly before the Peebu service point (39 km), Emil Persson attacked and quickly gained a 15-second lead over others. Persson did solo ride until the finish and won. The next one, who crossed the finish line, was Andreas Nygaard (NOR) (+02.52.1). Third place went to Max Novak (SWE) (+02.53.4).

 

"I had very good skis. I attacked at the service point and then I gave my best. I am very happy to be able to take the victory home,” said Persson.

 

Henri Roos, who just returned from the Olympics, was the best Estonian and finished 48th. Last year's winner Mart Kevin Põlluste was less than 41 seconds behind Roos.

 

"I'm not very surprised that I was the best Estonian. I knew that me and Mart (Mart Kevin Põlluste) are quite equal and we were together almost the whole race," said Roos.

 

The fastest among the women was Britta Johansson Norgen (SWE), who finished 2: 50.44. He was followed by the Norwegians Thea Krokan Murud (+01.14) and Magni Smedas (+02.27).

 

The best Estonian, Tatjana Mannima, finished as the 23rd woman and lost 23 minutes to Norgen.

 

All results can be viewed HERE.

 

A total of 3987 skiers registered for today's main races. 2997 people decided to go to for the longer 63 km distance and 990 for the shorter 31 km distance. There were 38 women and 87 men from the Visma Ski Classic Pro Tour series.

 

The season of the Tartu Marathon Klassik will continue on May 8, when the 40th Tartu Forrest Marathon will be held.