On Sunday, Tomas Vaitkus (Astana Cycling Team) will do something that is quite unusual among pro cyclists. He will start a mountain bike marathon.

Tomas Vaitkus has raced with Estonian Tanel Kangert this year, and the Estonian is the winner of Tartu Rattamaraton last year. And now, Vaitkus has decided to start the 14th annual SEB Tartu Rattamaraton, a race that takes place in Tartu, Estonia.

"I haven't set any major goals for Tartu Rattamaraton. So far I have only competed in a few small mountain bike races in Lithuania.

"Besides, my season is closed by now and I am not training seriously since my last road race, Hamburg's Vattenfall Cyclassics Therefore the main aim is to try the marathon, to see how I feel. I want to see if I can ride well."

Allan Oras, who won the Tartu Rattamaraton as well as the European Marathon Championship in 2009, says that he believes Vaitkus could really be a threat for the other riders. Or he may not.

"He is definitely one of the strongest riders. I believe his physique and the marathon track will show if he can compete against the other elite riders on the South Estonian landscape."

It will be interesting to see how he copes with such race. I actually think he will do well, but it may too early to say. So until the race ends, I won't say anything more about it.