Saimaa Cycle Tour traffic arrangements 28-29 June 2024
The Saimaa Cycle Tour, Finland's largest cycling event, will take place from Friday 28 June to Saturday 29 June 2024. the event will cause traffic disruptions in the Imatrankoski and Lappeenranta harbour areas. Cyclists will also ride without traffic restrictions in the areas of Taipalsaari, Savintaipale, Mikkeli and Puumala city centre. More information about the traffic arrangements can be found on this page.
General information about the Saimaa Cycle Tour
About 3 000 cyclists will participate in the Saimaa Cycle Tour. Cyclists will departure in groups of max. 50 cyclists every four minutes. The groups will leave the Imatrankoski Bridge between 19:30 and 22:06 on Friday 28 June and between 10:00 and 11:00 on Saturday 29 June. All riders will arrive in Imatra at 18:00 on Saturday 29 June.
The main route of the Saimaa Cycle Tour is 300 km around Lake Saimaa, starting in Imatra and cycling clockwise through Lappeenranta, Taipalsaari, Savitaipale, Mikkeli, Puumala and Ruokolahti back to Imatra.
Shorter Saturday morning rides go from Imatra to Ruokolahti, around Äitsaari and back to Imatra.
See the Saimaa Cycle Tour routes
We ask drivers to be patient when passing groups of cyclists
Cyclists departure in groups of max. 50 people, and the speed of the groups varies from slower cyclists to professional teams cycling at an average speed of up to 40 km/h on the 300 km route. Groups of cyclists departuring at different times may form larger groups of over 100 cyclists as the route progresses.
The cyclist are following the general traffic rules and we hope that motorists and motorcyclists will be considerate of the safety of both large groups and individual cyclists:
- Please remember to maintain a minimum lateral distance of 1.5 metres from cyclists in all situations
- Please do not overtake groups of cyclists at points where visibility is poor, e.g. uphills and bends
Traffic Control and Warning Signs
There will be hundreds of traffic controllers at junctions along the event route and more than 500 event-related warning or directional signs along the route.
Some traffic controllers will be on hand to guide cyclists and at some junctions traffic controllers will stop other traffic to allow cyclists to move smoothly. This may cause delays of a few minutes.
The Saimaa Cycle Tour event centre is located at Inkerinaukio in Imatrankoski. The starting and finishing points of the event are located on Imatrankoskentie. As there are thousands of cyclists in Imatra on Thursday and Saturday, we hope that all road users, from motorists to pedestrians, will be alert in traffic.
TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS ON IMATRANKOSKENTIE 28-29 JUNE 2024
Imatrankoskentie will be closed from the junction of Helsingintien / Tainionkoskentie to the roundabout (Vuoksentie) on Friday 28 June 2024 from 10.00. Imatrankoskentie will open to traffic on Sunday 30 June 2024 at 03.00 at the latest.
Light traffic will be able to use the bridges as usual throughout the event. Vehicles will detour via the bridge on the main road 6.
HELSINGINTIE TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS 26-30 JUNE 2024
The traffic lanes of Helsingintie towards Inkerinaukio will be closed from 15.00 on 26 June 2024 until 03.00 on 30 June 2024. The closure area is from the Imatrankoskentie junction to the Torkkelinkatu junction. In this section, traffic will be diverted from the direction of Lappeenranta to the Imatrankoski city centre carriageway.
The Helsingintie pedestrian and cycle path on the Inkerinaukio side will be closed from Wednesday 26 June 2024 at 15.00 until Thursday 27 June 2024 at 16.00. During the event, the Helsingintien pedestrian and cycle path will be in use on both sides.
TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS FOR HELSINGINTIE AND TAINIONKOSKENTIE 28 June 2024
The lanes from the roundabout of Tainionkoskentie and Heikinkatu to the intersection of Helsingintie and Viipurintie will be closed on Friday 28 June 2024 from 18.00 to 23.30. On Friday 28 June 2024 from 10.00 to 23.30, parking spaces on both sides of the carriageway will also be closed.
Driving on the plot is permitted from Helsingintie to Torkkelinkatu and on Tainionkoskentie between Heikinkatu - Imatrankoskentie.
From Lappeenranta towards Tainionkoski and from Tainionkoski towards Lappeenranta there is a detour route.
CHANGES IN LOCAL TRANSPORT ROUTES 28-30 June 2024
There will be changes in the local transport routes in Imatra from 28-30 June 2024.
The route via Rajapatsas and Savikanta for lines 21 and 22 will be temporarily suspended.
The section of line 23 between Imatrankoski and Jakola will not run during the event.
Traffic arrangements in Lappeenranta on Friday 28 June 2024
The Saimaa Cycle Tour event will cause traffic disruptions in the Lappeeranta harbour area. The route runs from Ainonkatu to Kipparinkatu, from where it turns from Satamatori along Torikatu to Taipalsaarentie 408 and continues towards Taipalsaari.
As cyclists will be passing the Lappeenranta port area during Friday evening, we also ask pedestrians to be vigilant when crossing the roads in the port area, as groups of cyclists will be moving at high speed.
TRAFFIC ARRANGEMENTS ON AINONKATU, SATAMATIEN AND KIPPARINKATU 28 JUNE 2024
Ainonkatu, Satamatie and Kipparinkatu will be closed to traffic on the section between Lappeenranta Central Hospital and TorikaTU so that the right lane from the direction of the hospital will be used by cyclists only. The left lane from Torikatu and Pikisaari direction to the roundabout of the central hospital will be used for normal traffic.
Traffic will be closed from 20:00 on Friday and open at 02:00 on Saturday night (or as soon as the last group of cyclists has passed the port area).