Saimaa Cycle Tour traffic arrangements 8-9 July 2022

Saimaa Cycle Tour will be held 8-9 July 2022 and the event will cause traffic arrangements in Imatrankoski, Lappeenranta harbour area and Puumala centre. More information about traffic arrangements can be found on this page.

General information about Saimaa Cycle Tour

The Saimaa Cycle Tour will involve ~2000 cyclists and the first group will start from Imatra on Friday 8 July at 7 pm. All cyclists will finish in Imatra by 3 pm on Saturday 9 July. The main 300-kilometre route of the Saimaa Cycle Tour circles around Lake Saimaa, starting from Imatra and cycling clockwise through Lappeenranta, Taipalsaari, Savitaipale, Mikkeli, Puumala and Ruokolahti back to Imatra. Shorter routes run from Imatra to Ruokolahti, bypassing Äitsaari and back to Imatra.

See the Saimaa Cycle Tour routes

Overtaking cyclists and traffic control

The cyclists start in groups of max. 50 people and the speed of the groups varies from slow cyclists to professional teams, who cycle the 300 km route at an average speed of up to 40 km per hour. Groups of up to 100 cyclists can form along the way.

Traffic rules will be used and we hope that vehicles and motorcycles will also take safety considerations into account when passing large groups of cyclists. Please remember to keep at least 1.5 metres of distance from cyclists in all situations, or pass the cyclist in the oncoming lane. Please do not pass groups of cyclists at points where visibility is poor, e.g. uphill.

There are hundreds of traffic controllers at intersections along the event route. Some of the traffic controllers will be guiding cyclists, and at some intersections traffic controllers will stop other traffic to allow cyclists to pass the intersection smoothly. This can cause a few minutes of waiting time. We thank you for your patience.

Exceptional traffic arrangements in Imatra

The Saimaa Cycle Tour event centre is located at Inkeri square in Imatrankoski. The start and finish of the event are located on Imatrankoskentie.

Imatrankoskentie will be closed from the roundabout to Helsingintie on Friday 8 July from 10 am. Imatrankoskentie will be opened to traffic on Saturday 9 July at 9 pm. We will do our best to open Imatrankoskentie on Saturday as soon as possible.
On Helsingintie, the right lane towards Mansikkala will be closed from the Valtionhotell junction to Imatrankoskentie junction on Friday 8 July from 5 pm. The closed right lane will be opened to traffic on Saturday 9 July at 7 pm. Traffic heading in the direction of Mansikkala can use the left lane throughout the event.

Exceptional traffic arrangements in Lappeenranta

The Saimaa Cycle Tour event will cause traffic disruptions in the Lappeeranta harbour area between Myllysaari and Pikisaari. As cyclists will be passing the Lappeenranta harbour area during Friday evening, we also ask pedestrians to be careful when crossing the harbour area roads, as groups of cyclists will be moving at high speed.

Ainonkatu and Satamatie will be closed to traffic on the section between Myllysaari and Pikisaari, so that the right lane from Myllysaari is only for cyclists. Traffic will be closed from 7 pm on Friday and will open as soon as the last group of cyclists has passed the harbour area (estimated at 1 am on Saturday night). The left lane from Pikisaari towards the harbour will be open for normal traffic.
In addition, fast groups leaving on Saturday morning will pass the port area between 7 and 8 am on Saturday morning. During this time there will be no traffic diversions in the area and the groups will drive in the normal traffic on the carriageway.

Exceptional traffic arrangements in Puumala

The Saimaa Cycle Tour event will cause traffic diversions in the Puumala city centre and harbour area. Cyclists will arrive in the Puumala city centre area along the Old Puumala Road, from where cyclists will turn onto Pappilantie and towards the port area. As the majority of cyclists pass Puumala during the morning hours, we also ask pedestrians to be careful when crossing the roads, as groups of cyclists move at high speed.

Satamatie will be closed to traffic between Pappilantie and Keskustie, so that the right lane from Pappilantie is only for cyclists. Traffic will be closed from 1 am on Saturday night and will open as soon as the last group of cyclists has passed the harbour area (estimated at 1 pm on Saturday). The left lane from the direction of the Keskustie towards Pappilantie will be open to traffic as usual.
Fast groups leaving Imatra on Saturday morning will pass the harbour area on Saturday between 11 am and 1 pm, when we ask all vehicles and pedestrians on Pappilantie, Satamatie and Keskutie to exercise extra caution in traffic.