Yet somehow, our gracious tour guide, Sami Kajander, seemed to know them all. Endless gravel roads and dirt tracks weave through the city, around its nearby lakes, and up and down the region’s rolling terrain, which make for endless route combinations. The lakeside city is home to approximately 119,000 residents and offers all the restaurants, cultural venues, transportation and other conveniences of a metropolitan city in a small package surrounded by nothing but nature and strewn-out farm and logging lands. This means that, unlike Steamboat Springs - home of SBT GRVL in Colorado, USA - which sits at a lung-busting elevation of 2,103 meters (6,900 feet) above sea level, breathing comes easily and hard efforts can be sustained. Despite being home to the highest point of Southern Finland, the region lies at low elevation, topping out at just 223 meters (732 feet) at the very peak of Tiirismaa. Lahti is situated on the edge of Finnish Lake Country, a region defined by more than 55,000 lakes that dot a forest-covered plateau. While Finland may lack some of the dramatic mountain and fjord vistas of the other Nordic countries, there a sense of calm that comes from the ever-present nature. Lahti gives him out-the-door access to ski, to ride bikes, to run, to skidoo or to simply “see nobody for a while,” he said.Īnd it’s easy to see the draw. While Bottas lives in Monaco, he still owns a lake house in Lahti, where he comes to escape the stressful world of F1 racing with the calming nature, a sauna, training and playing time. It’s safe to say the stoke is high, and we can’t wait for people to experience it for themselves,” commented Lyman, who himself was a first-time visitor to the region. “Lahti has the infrastructure to handle an event this size, so we knew this was the right spot for people to discover, but frankly were blown away by what we saw. With undulating terrain and surrounded by lakes, Lahti is a well-known sporting destination and host to numerous world-class events ranging from ski jump world cups and MotoGP, to the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships and RedBull 400 uphill sprint races.
Lahti, Finland: a sporting destinationīottas was raised in Nastola, a formerly independent municipality in Southern Finland that today has been incorporated into the city of Lahti, which lies just 15 kilometers to the west and around an hour’s drive north of Helsinki. This August, I was among a small group who joined Lyman, Charity, Bottas and Cromwell as they travelled to Lahti to test ride the courses, meet with city and tourism bureau officials and explore the region’s cultural offerings. When Amy Charity and Chris Lyman reached out to me about partnering on a race in Finland, I saw it as a tremendous opportunity to build something similarly special in Lahti.” “I was impressed with such a world-class event. “I’ve been riding gravel around my hometown of Lahti for years, and discovered SBT GRVL in 2021,” said Bottas.
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“I do it for fun but I am competitive and I go full gas,” he said.įull gas and all in on gravel, Bottas was so impressed by the organization, racing and community aspect of his first SBT GRVL that he wants to bring it to Finland, where he already organizes a small, annual off-road Duathlon for charity.
Speaking to me about getting out sprinted by ‘some young guy who didn’t do a lot of work in the break,’ it was clear that missing out on that podium ate at him. At Belgian Waffle Ride San Marcos this past May, he took second in the 72-kilometer event and, returning to SBT GRVL earlier this month, he narrowly missed out on the overall podium, finishing in fourth overall and first in his age group in the 64-mile course. Bottas has been using the bike for cardio training for many years, and with the endless gravel paths and dirt tracks littering his native Finland, he’s no stranger to the scenic and peaceful joys of gravel riding.īottas is also a fierce competitor and when Cromwell introduced him to the world of bike racing in 2020, it wasn’t long before he started vying for the podium.Īt the 2021 SBT GRVL, he bested some 500 riders in the 64-mile race to end up in fifth place overall and third place in his age group.
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