Sunny final weekend of Levi Bike & Outdoor Fest

The outdoor event Levi Bike & Outdoor Fest finished on Saturday in sunny weather with two races. In the MTB Enduro Finnish Championship, MTB enduro riders challenged themselves on the Kätkä and Levitunturi routes, and in the Levi Extreme Triathlon participants swam in Lake Immeljärvi, cycled in hilly fell landscapes and ran on the trails of the fells.

The MTB Enduro Championship competition Levi Midnight Enduro lasted two days with 126 riders competing for the win. The riders raced down the first three special stages on Levi's magnificent routes on Friday evening and the remaining nine stages on Saturday 23.7.2022. The fastest pace was held by Tarmo Ryynänen of the youth U21 class, who completed all stages with a time of 42:29:92. In the women's category, Kaisa Härkönen won with a time of 53:19:80.

- The Finnish Enduro Championship was held in Levi for the first time in 2016 and since then the race has established itself in our race calendar. The magnificent scenery and long trails, which vary in terrain, are unique for riders touring the series, says Sauli Hjerppe, who runs the Finnish Enduro Championship series.

The results of Levi Midnight Enduro can be found here.

There was no lack of challenge in the Levi Extreme Triathlon on Saturday 23.7., which offered four different distances for participants to choose from. The mini-distance (100 m swim, 10 km cycling, and a 3 km run) was designed with those in mind who want to try triathlon for the first time, together with the family for example. The sprint (400 m swim, 20 km cycling and a 6 km run) was suitable for all sports enthusiasts while the standard distance was slightly more challenging with a 700 m swim, 40 km cycling and a 15 km run. The team competition was also held on the standard distance. The long distance, which had the most participants, consisted of 1900 m of swimming, 131 km of cycling and 21 km of running. In this category, men's victory was celebrated by Miikka Osmo with a time of 6:24:11 and women's victory went to Kiti Ruissalo with a time of 7:40:10.

- We had a successful event with a good atmosphere. Happy finishers were seen on the finish line throughout the day. Many said that it was a tough competition on extreme routes - now they know why the name of the race is Levi Extreme Triathlon. Thank you to our club, whose members did a good job. Next year's race will be on 22.7.2023," says Competition Director Juuso Laitinen.

Levi Extreme Triathlon results here

The various events in Levi attract holidaymakers to accommodation, restaurant and other services. Levi Bike & Outdoor Fest, an outdoor and cycling week for the whole family, is an essential part of the summer season in Levi.

- The event has firmly established its place in Levi's summer calendar. It's wonderful to see how the whole family has plenty to do in the same week, in the same place, even with the same sports, but still challenging everyone appropriately. This year, we focused on developing the "Bike Fest for Kids concept", which offered children a variety of cycling-themed activities. The children's favourite was definitely the pump track races. Clearly this is a summer holiday week for many MTB enduro riders, for example, in which the whole family is involved; at the beginning of the week, the focus will be on children's activities, and later in the week at least one of the adults will compete in the MTB enduro race," says Satu Pesonen, CEO of Visit Levi.

Levi Bike & Outdoor Fest will be held again next year from July 15th to 22nd, 2023.