The annual Jūrmala MTB cycling marathon brings the mountain-biking season to a spectacular close
On Saturday, 6 October, the widely acclaimed Jūrmala MTB cycling marathon took place, as is now traditional, on Majori Beach, bringing together thousands of cycling enthusiasts, young and old, from the Riga region and other parts of Latvia right on the seashore. Throughout the day, participants tirelessly tested their strength on one of four exciting mountain-biking courses, while also enjoying an extensive entertainment programme and spending a sunny autumn day in an invigorating sporting atmosphere. This year, the most successful cyclist was ZZK team athlete Dmitrijs Sorokins.
At 10:30 a.m., the youngest cyclists, aged up to 12, took their places on the beach starting line, opening the competition by enthusiastically completing the 0.3–1 km Children’s Race. Soon afterwards, the Sport MTB distance participants set off on a challenging 47 km course that passed over a wide variety of surfaces, from the sandy shoreline through the city of Jūrmala to the winding forests of Priedaine and through Babīte along the highway back to the finish. In fierce competition, the title among professional cyclists was won by ZZK team athlete Dmitrijs Sorokins, who recorded an excellent time of 1 hr 13 min 59 sec. He was followed immediately by Uldis Ālītis of the Puslaar team (1:17:18), who finished just over three minutes later, while third place went to Skanste team rider Deins Kaņepējs, who completed the course in 1 hr 17 min 46 sec. In the women’s category, multiple medallist Katrīna Jaunslaviete-Ķipure (ZZK) took the honours with a time of 1 hr 21 min, while second place went to Santa Sanija Jurgena of the Ķekava Municipality Sports School (1 hr 23 min), leaving the Engrues sport team representative Aiga Paegle in third place; she completed the course in 1 hr 26 min. ZZK athletes were unbeatable in the team standings for the Sport distance.
Next, the riders in the widely represented People’s distance also took to the 47 km course, competing for victory both individually and as teams. Roberts Andersons of the ELKOR team triumphed convincingly in this distance, reaching the finish after 1 hr 17 min 19 sec. Sandijs Kļaviņš (Sportland Bottecchia) proved to be the second fastest, finishing less than three minutes behind the leader in 1 hr 19 min 50 sec, while third place in the overall standings went to MTB Garkalne representative Armands Priede, whose time was 1 hr 20 min 41 sec. There was also fierce competition among the women, but this time Renāte Rodionova (Carnikava Sports Centre) emerged as the clear leader, completing the challenging course in 1 hr 23 min. Shortly after her, MTB Garkalne team athlete Zane Ķelpe crossed the finish line (1 hr 30 min), while Laura Ramane of Sports Centre Mēmele took third place, losing out to her rival by just one minute. The MR Ripo team won first place in the team standings. In the afternoon, the competition programme concluded with the unifying Family MTB distance parade, which brought Latvia’s most active and creative families together for a colourful 10 km ride along the seashore. As usual, the highest-performing and most creative groups in this category were presented with special commemorative medals and other surprise prizes from the competition organisers and supporters.
Alongside the intense competition, visitors were also entertained throughout the day by a variety of exciting activities at the venue: mobile vendors’ stalls, games for children, energetic music performed by DJ Kelly Elly, and other tempting entertainment opportunities. In addition, to ensure the well-being of the competitors, refreshing Neptunas mineral water was provided at several points along the course, while the technical condition of the bicycles was carefully monitored by the Velo Depo bicycle service. The event’s engaging host, Lauris Lizbovskis, helped maintain a good atmosphere throughout the competition, while the nourishing meal provided by Latvian Catering Company satisfied the participants’ hunger after the finish.
The Jūrmala MTB cycling marathon was organised by SIA Alpha Baltic Media in cooperation with the Latvian Cycling Federation; the competition was hosted by the City of Jūrmala. More information about the completed competition and the full list of participants’ results is available on the website www.maratoni.lv. For enquiries, please call 67844425 or write to sport@alphabaltic.lv.
