Tour de Pologne

The Tour de Pologne (Wyścig Dookoła Polski, Tour of Poland), official abbreviation TdP, is a road bicycle racing stage race. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km in length. The race was first held in 1928. Until 1952 the race was held sporadically, but since then it has been an annual race. Until early 1993 the race was open to amateur cyclists only and most of its winners came from Poland.

Tour de Pologne
Race details
DateAugust
RegionPoland
English nameTour of Poland
Local name(s)Wyścig Dookoła Polski
(in Polish)
DisciplineRoad race
CompetitionUCI World Tour
TypeRace stage
OrganiserLang Team Sp. z o.o.
Race directorCzesław Lang
Web sitetourdepologne.pl
History
First edition1928 (1928)
Editions77 (as of 2020)
First winner Feliks Więcek (POL)
Most wins Dariusz Baranowski (POL)
 Andrzej Mierzejewski (POL)
 Marian Więckowski (POL)
(3 wins each)
Most recent Remco Evenepoel (BEL)
The peloton in the 2011 Tour de Pologne stage 1.
2019 Tour de Pologne stage 2 peleton finish in Katowice.
Dariusz Baranowski the winner of the 1991, 1992, 1993 TdP.

The international cycling association, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), made TdP part of the UCI ProTour in 2005, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar in 2009.

History

The initial concept of the TdP's multi-stage format was modeled after the popular Tour de France. The proposal for organizing the event was submitted jointly by the Warsaw Cycling Society and the Przegląd Sportowy sports newspaper published in Kraków. Thanks to their initiative, a Wyścig Dookoła Polski (Race Around Poland, the original name of the TdP) was held in the summer of 1928. The historic first edition of the race took place from 7–11 September 1928. 71 cyclists rode almost 1,500 km — the winner was Felix Więcek from the Bydgoszcz Cycling Club.

Until the outbreak of World War II, the TdP took place four times, two of which — in the years 1937 and 1939 - were won by the "Tiger of the Roads" - Bolesław Napierała.

The early races differed significantly from today's. The stages were much longer (often a distance of 300 km), and riders repeatedly caught flat tires on stone-chipped roads, and made stops at local restaurants.

After the war, the idea of a cycling competition around Poland was reborn. In 1947, thanks to the cooperation of the Polish Cycling Association, the publishing house Czytelnik and a group of journalists, the race was reactivated after an 8-year break. The winner after just four stages and only 606 km (the shortest route in the history of the TdP) was Stanislaw Grzelak (Tramwajarz Lodz). Until 1993 it was not possible for the organizers of TdP to achieve an adequate rank for their event. This was due to the official stance of the authorities and the favoring of a different cycling event — the Peace Race. Noteworthy moments from that time period: triumphs of foreign cyclists Francesco Locatelli (1949), Roger Diercken (1960), José Viejo (1972) and André Delcroix (from 1974); the longest edition of the race - 2,311 km and 13 stages (in 1953); and the hat-trick of victories of Marian Wieckowski (1954–56), matched only by Dariusz Baranowski (1991–93).

In 1993, Czesław Lang, the 1980 Summer Olympics cycling road race silver medalist and the winner of the 1980 TdP, took over the function of TdP Director. Thanks to his persistent efforts, the TdP is now a UCI World Ranking event.

In 1997, during the UCI congress in San Sebastian, TdP advanced to the professional category of 2.4, and was classified as a "National Race" (the first of its kind in Central and Eastern European countries).

At the 1999 UCI Road World Championships, the UCI Technical Commission promoted the race to Class 2.3. On 12 October 2001 the Tour was promoted to category 2.2.

In the 2005 decision of the UCI, the TdP was included in the elite of cycling events — the UCI ProTour. The composition of the sample were three Grand Tours: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España, classic World Cup, staged races 2.HC category (i.e. Paris–Nice, Tour de Suisse), the classics 1.HC (i.e. La Flèche Wallonne - The Walloon Arrow) and the TdP, which was advanced by 2 categories to 2HC.

Over several years, the activities of Polish precursor professional law enforcement — Czeslaw Lang, Kolarska amateur event, known in the mainly communist countries, has been transformed into a well-organized professional race. This resulted in the groups with the top stars of professional cycling and the world, even Danilo Di Luca (ProTour winner 2005), Laurent Brochard (professional world champion from 1997), Óscar Freire (world champion 1999, 2001 and 2004), Romāns Vainšteins (world champion from 2000), Viatcheslav Ekimov (Olympic Champion of 2000), Gianluca Bortolami (World Cup winner 1994), Erik Dekker (World Cup winner 2001), Stefano Garzelli (winner of 2000 Giro d'Italia) or excellent sprinters: Andrus Auga, Baden Cooke, and Daniele Bennati.

Tour de Pologne received the title of "Best Sport Event of the Year" in the Przegląd Sportowy polls in 1995, 1996, 2004 and 2008.

List of winners

YearWinnerNationalityStagesDistance
2020Remco Evenepoel Belgium5911.4 km
2019Pavel Sivakov Russia71036.2 km
2018Michał Kwiatkowski Poland71014 km
2017Dylan Teuns Belgium71122 km
2016Tim Wellens Belgium71190 km
2015Jon Izagirre Spain71076 km
2014Rafał Majka Poland71255 km
2013Pieter Weening Netherlands71238 km
2012Moreno Moser Italy71231.6 km
2011Peter Sagan Slovakia71113.3 km
2010Dan Martin Ireland71256.5 km
2009Alessandro Ballan Italy71158 km
2008Jens Voigt Germany71258.6 km
2007Johan Vansummeren Belgium71224 km
2006Stefan Schumacher Germany71226 km
2005Kim Kirchen Luxembourg81246 km
2004Ondřej Sosenka Czech Republic81264 km
2003Cezary Zamana Poland81233 km
2002Laurent Brochard France81273 km
2001Ondřej Sosenka Czech Republic81249 km
2000Piotr Przydział Poland71164 km
1999Tomasz Brożyna Poland71164 km
1998Serguei Ivanov Russia81434 km
1997Rolf Järmann  Switzerland81499 km
1996Viatcheslav Djavanian Russia81346 km
1995Zbigniew Spruch Poland71254 km
1994Maurizio Fondriest Italy71110 km
1993Dariusz Baranowski Poland121794 km
1992Dariusz Baranowski Poland81149 km
1991Dariusz Baranowski Poland81222 km
1990Mieczysław Karłowicz Poland91207 km
1989Marek Wrona Poland81271 km
1988Andrzej Mierzejewski Poland71016 km
1987Zbigniew Piątek Poland81162 km
1986Marek Kulas Poland101490 km
1985Marek Leśniewski Poland101224 km
1984Andrzej Mierzejewski Poland91219 km
1983Tadeusz Krawczyk Poland91147 km
1982Andrzej Mierzejewski Poland8892 km
1981Jan Brzeźny Poland91 195 km
1980Czesław Lang Poland101282 km
1979Henryk Charucki Poland91335 km
1978Jan Brzeźny Poland111415 km
1977Lechosław Michalak Poland101460 km
1976Janusz Kowalski Poland101499 km
1975Tadeusz Mytnik Poland101440 km
1974André Delcroix Belgium111593 km
1973Lucjan Lis Poland121512 km
1972José Viejo Spain101194 km
1971Stanisław Szozda Poland121291 km
1970Jan Stachura Poland121611 km
1969Wojciech Matusiak Poland131795 km
1968Jan Kudra Poland121757 km
1967Andrzej Bławdzin Poland111682 km
1966Józef Gawliczek Poland101272 km
1965Józef Beker Poland91318 km
1964Rajmund Zieliński Poland101394 km
1963Stanisław Gazda Poland81482 km
1962Jan Kudra Poland81278 km
1961Henryk Kowalski Poland81329 km
1960Roger Diercken Belgium81336 km
1959Wiesław Podobas Poland111621 km
1958Bogusław Fornalczyk Poland112038 km
1957Henryk Kowalski Poland111968 km
1956Marian Więckowski Poland81221 km
1955Marian Więckowski Poland101563 km
1954Marian Więckowski Poland121925 km
1953Mieczysław Wilczewski Poland132311 km
1952Wacław Wójcik Poland111959 km
1949Francesco Locatelli Italy121994 km
1948Wacław Wójcik Poland111963 km
1947Stanisław Grzelak Poland4606 km
1939Bolesław Napierała Poland81291 km
1937Bolesław Napierała Poland91336 km
1933Jerzy Lipiński Poland91721 km
1929Józef Stefański Poland122250 km
1928Feliks Więcek Poland81491 km

See also

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