Saimaa Cycle Tour traffic arrangements 7-8 July 2023

The Saimaa Cycle Tour, Finland's largest cycling event, will take place from Friday 7 July to Saturday 8 July 2023. 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 2500 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 7 July and between 10:00 and 11:00 on Saturday 8 July. All riders will arrive in Imatra at 18:00 on Saturday 8 July.

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.

Special traffic arrangements in Imatra and effects on bus lines 1, 2 and 3

The Saimaa Cycle Tour event centre is located at Inkerinaukio in Imatrankoski. The event starts and finishes on Imatrankoskentie. As there will be thousands of cyclists in Imatra on Thursday and Saturday, we hope that all road users, from drivers to pedestrians, will be alert in traffic.

Imatra bus lines 1, 2 and 3 will also be affected. For more information on the impact, please visit the Imatra public transport website: https://www.imatra.fi/asuminen-ja-ymparisto/joukkoliikenne

  • Imatrankoskentie will be closed from the roundabout between Pistetalot and Helsingintie from 10 am on Friday 7 July
    • Light traffic will operate normally, but during the departure of the event the light traffic lanes may be full of spectators, at least on Imatrankoski Bridge
    • Imatrankoskentie will be opened to traffic at 03:00 on Sunday 9 July
  • The right lane of Helsingintie towards Mansikkala will be closed from Valtionhotell to the junction with Imatrankoskentie from 10 am on Friday 7 July
    • Traffic in the direction of Mansikkala will be diverted to the other side of the divider, so that instead of the normal two lanes, cars will travel in opposite directions
    • The right lane towards Mansikkala will be opened to traffic at 03.00 on Sunday 9 July.

After the event, we will try to open Imatrankoskentie and Helsingintie as soon as the structures and fences associated with the event have been removed from the road areas. 

Special traffic arrangements in Lappeenranta

The Saimaa Cycle Tour event will cause traffic disruptions in the Lappeenranta harbour area between Central Hospital and Pikisaari.

As the cyclists will pass through the Lappeenranta harbour area on Friday evening, we also ask pedestrians to be careful when crossing the roads in the harbour area, as groups of cyclists will be moving at high speed.

  • Ainonkatu and Satamatie will be closed to traffic between Lappeenranta Central Hospital and Pikisaari, so the right lane coming from the hospital will be for cyclists only. Traffic will be closed from 20:00 on Friday and reopened at 02:00 on Saturday night (or as soon as the last group of cyclists has passed the harbour area). The left lane from Pikin Island to the Central Hospital roundabout will be open to traffic as normal.