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)
Editions80 (as of 2023)
First winner Feliks Więcek (POL)
Most wins Dariusz Baranowski (POL)
 Andrzej Mierzejewski (POL)
 Marian Więckowski (POL)
(3 wins each)
Most recent Matej Mohorič (SLO)
Józef Stefański wins the first stage of the 1929 edition of the race.
The peloton in the 2004 Tour de Pologne.
Ondřej Sosenka was the winner of the race in 2004.
2006 Tour de Pologne in Toruń
2019 Tour de Pologne stage 2 peloton finish in Katowice.
Start of the third stage of 2021 Tour de Pologne
Dariusz Baranowski the winner of the 1991, 1992, 1993 TdP.

The Tour de Pologne (Polish: Wyścig Dookoła Polski; English: Tour of Poland), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km in length. The race was first held in 1928 and is considered the oldest and most important bicycle race in Poland.

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. Since 2009, the race has been taking place between July and August.[1]

The international cycling association, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), made TdP part of the UCI ProTour in 2005, and part of the UCI World Tour, cycling's highest level of professional men's races, in 2009. In 2016, the three-stage women's competition Tour de Pologne kobiet was organised one day after the last men's stage.[2] Three riders, Dariusz Baranowski, Andrzej Mierzejewski and Marian Więckowski, share the record of most wins, with three each.[3]

History

Beginnings

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. The honorary patrons of the race included President of the Second Polish Republic Ignacy Mościcki while the President of the Honorary Committee was Marshal Józef Piłsudski.[4][5]

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.[6]

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.

Post-WWII

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.[7] 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).[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

Since 2005

In the 2005 decision of the UCI, the TdP was included in the elite of cycling events — the UCI ProTour.[11] 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 of 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 names of professional cycling such as Danilo Di Luca, Laurent Brochard, Óscar Freire, Romāns Vainšteins, Viatcheslav Ekimov, Gianluca Bortolami, Erik Dekker, Stefano Garzelli, Vincenzo Nibali and Jonas Vingegaard as well as cyclists like Mark Cavendish, Cadel Evans, Fabio Aru, Baden Cooke, Daniele Bennati, Richard Carapaz, Matej Mohorič, Simon Yates, Jakob Fuglsang, Dan Martin, Thibaut Pinot, Bradley Wiggins, André Greipel, Remco Evenepoel, Geraint Thomas and Peter Sagan.

Tour de Pologne received the title of "Best Sport Event of the Year" on six occasions in the Przegląd Sportowy polls in 1995, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2011 and 2015.[12]

The Czech Republic, Italy and Slovakia are the three countries which have hosted stages or part of a stage of Tour de Pologne: (Český Těšín in 2010, 2011 and 2012, Trentino South Tirol in 2013 and Štrbské Pleso in 2014).[13][14][15][16]

List of winners

Year Country Rider Team
1928  Poland Feliks Więcek Bydgoski Klub Kolarzy
1929  Poland Józef Stefański AKS Warszawa
1933  Poland Jerzy Lipiński Skoda Warszawa
1937  Poland Bolesław Napierała Polska II
1939  Poland Bolesław Napierała Syrena Warszawa
1947  Poland Stanisław Grzelak Tramwajarz Łódź
1948  Poland Wacław Wójcik Polska I
1949  Italy Francesco Locatelli Italy
1952  Poland Wacław Wójcik CWKS Warszawa
1953  Poland Mieczysław Wilczewski Unia Chorzów
1954  Poland Marian Więckowski CWKS Warszawa
1955  Poland Marian Więckowski CWKS Warszawa
1956  Poland Marian Więckowski CWKS Legia Warszawa
1957  Poland Henryk Kowalski Lechia Gdańsk
1958  Poland Bogusław Fornalczyk LZS Myszków
1959  Poland Wiesław Podobas CWKS Warszawa
1960  Belgium Roger Diercken Belgium
1961  Poland Henryk Kowalski Lechia Gdańsk
1962  Poland Jan Kudra Społem Łódź
1963  Poland Stanisław Gazda Start Bielsko
1964  Poland Rajmund Zieliński LZS Nowogard
1965  Poland Józef Beker LZS Mokrzeszów
1966  Poland Józef Gawliczek LZS II
1967  Poland Andrzej Bławdzin LZS Mazowsze
1968  Poland Jan Kudra Społem Łódź
1969  Poland Wojciech Matusiak Arkonia Szczecin
1970  Poland Jan Stachura Unia Oświęcim
1971  Poland Stanisław Szozda CWKS Legia Warszawa
1972  Spain José Luis Viejo Spain
1973  Poland Lucjan Lis Górnik Radzionków
1974  Belgium André Delcroix Belgium
1975  Poland Tadeusz Mytnik Flota Gdynia
1976  Poland Janusz Kowalski Polska
1977  Poland Lechosław Michalak Polska II
1978  Poland Jan Brzeźny Polska I
1979  Poland Henryk Charucki Metalowiec
1980  Poland Czesław Lang Polska I
1981  Poland Jan Brzeźny Polska I
1982  Poland Andrzej Mierzejewski Polska
1983  Poland Tadeusz Krawczyk Polska I
1984  Poland Andrzej Mierzejewski Polska
1985  Poland Marek Leśniewski Polska
1986  Poland Marek Kulas Polska
1987  Poland Zbigniew Piątek Polska
1988  Poland Andrzej Mierzejewski LZS I
1989  Poland Marek Wrona JZS Jelcz Oława
1990  Poland Mieczysław Karłowicz JZS Jelcz
1991  Poland Dariusz Baranowski OZKol Wałbrzych
1992  Poland Dariusz Baranowski Soia – Górnik
1993  Poland Dariusz Baranowski Pekaes Lang Rover Legia
1994  Poland Maurizio Fondriest Lampre Panaria Animex
1995  Poland Zbigniew Spruch Lampre Panaria Animex
1996  Russia Viatcheslav Djavanian Roslotto ZG
1997   Switzerland Rolf Järmann Casino – Géant
1998  Russia Serguei Ivanov TVM–Farm Frites
1999  Poland Tomasz Brożyna Mróz
2000  Poland Piotr Przydział Mat–Ceresit–CCC
2001  Czech Republic Ondřej Sosenka Ceresit–CCC–Mat
2002  France Laurent Brochard Jean Delatour
2003  Poland Cezary Zamana Action Nvidia–Mróz
2004  Czech Republic Ondřej Sosenka Acqua & Sapone
2005  Luxembourg Kim Kirchen Fassa Bortolo
2006  Germany Stefan Schumacher Gerolsteiner
2007  Belgium Johan Vansummeren Predictor–Lotto
2008  Germany Jens Voigt CSC–Saxo Bank
2009  Italy Alessandro Ballan Lampre–NGC
2010  Ireland Daniel Martin Garmin–Transitions
2011  Slovakia Peter Sagan Liquigas–Cannondale
2012  Italy Moreno Moser Liquigas–Cannondale
2013  Netherlands Pieter Weening Orica–GreenEDGE
2014  Poland Rafał Majka Tinkoff–Saxo
2015  Spain Ion Izagirre Movistar Team
2016  Belgium Tim Wellens Lotto–Soudal
2017  Belgium Dylan Teuns BMC Racing Team
2018  Poland Michał Kwiatkowski Team Sky
2019  Russia Pavel Sivakov Team Ineos
2020  Belgium Remco Evenepoel Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2021  Portugal João Almeida Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2022  United Kingdom Ethan Hayter Ineos Grenadiers
2023  Slovenia Matej Mohorič Team Bahrain Victorious

Multiple winners

Wins Rider Editions
3 Dariusz Baranowski (POL)1991, 1992, 1993
 Andrzej Mierzejewski (POL)1982, 1984, 1988
 Marian Więckowski (POL)1954, 1955, 1956
2 Jan Brzeźny (POL)1978, 1981
 Henryk Kowalski (POL)1957, 1961
 Jan Kudra (POL)1962, 1968
 Bolesław Napierała (POL)1937, 1939
 Ondřej Sosenka (CZE)2001, 2004
 Wacław Wójcik (POL)1948, 1952

Winners by country

#CountryVictories
1  Poland 52
2  Belgium 6
3  Italy 4
4  Russia 3
5  Czech Republic 2
 Germany 2
 Spain 2
7  Ireland 1
 France 1
 Luxembourg 1
 Netherlands 1
 Portugal 1
 Slovenia 1
 Slovakia 1
  Switzerland 1
 United Kingdom 1

Accidents

Throughout the history of Tour de Pologne, two fatal accidents involving riders participating in the race occurred:

Records and trivia

  • The longest race was the 10th edition of Tour de Pologne which consisted of 13 stages and had the total length of 2311 km while the shortest race was the 6th edition which consisted of 4 stages and had the total length of 606 km.[21][22]
  • In 2014, Jonas van Genechten set the record for the fastest speed (80 kph) attained when crossing the finishing line during the fourth stage of the race in Katowice.[23]
  • Ryszard Szurkowski, one of the most successful Polish cyclists, participated in the race between 1968 and 1984 and won a total of 15 stages but never managed to triumph in the general classification.[24]
  • There are four types of jerseys worn during the race: yellow jersey is worn by the leader of the general classification, pink jersey is worn by the leader of the mountains classification, white jersey is worn by the leader of sprints classification and navy blue jersey is worn by the leader of the active rider classification.[25]
  • Each year, around 3.5 million spectators gather along the route of Tour de Pologne to watch the race.[26]
  • The race is broadcast to over 100 countries in 20 language versions.[27]
  • On the last day of the race, amateurs can take part in Tour de Pologne Amatorów, a special race open to everyone which is organized along the same route where professional riders compete.[28]
  • Only two riders in the history of the race (Józef Stefański in 1929 and Bolesław Napierała in 1937) completed the whole race wearing the yellow jersey.[29]
  • The smallest time difference in the final general classification was 0:00:02 between Jon Izagirre and Bart De Clercq in 2015 and between Dylan Teuns and Rafał Majka in 2017.[30]
  • Two winners of Tour de Pologne have also won the UCI Road World Championships: Michał Kwiatkowski (2014)[31] and Peter Sagan (2015, 2016, 2017).[32]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tour de Pologne.

References

  1. ↑ "Tour de Pologne – ponad 90 lat na rowerze!" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  2. ↑ "Tour de Pologne Women 2016" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "Winners". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "History". Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "History". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  6. ↑ "Historia TDP – początki wyścigu" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Pedal power: the history of the Tour de Pologne". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Winners". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "About me". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Tour de Pologne" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "TOUR DE POLOGNE ENDORSES UCI'S WORLDTOUR REFORM". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Tour de Pologne Imprezą Roku w Plebiscycie "Przeglądu Sportowego" i TVP" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Trasa Tour de Pologne wiedzie przez Czechy" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "Jubileuszowy Tour de Pologne rozpocznie się... we Włoszech" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Tour of Poland to start in Trentino, Italy in 2013". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Tour de Pologne: triumf Rafała Majki na Słowacji [5. ETAP - RELACJA]" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Historia: Tragiczna śmierć Myszaka w Tour de Pologne (1967)" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "Bjorg Lambrecht: Belgian cyclist dies following crash during the Tour de Pologne". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Bjorg Lambrecht's death caused by internal hemorrhage". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  20. ↑ "Belgian cyclist Bjorg Lambrecht, 22, dies after crashing during race". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "Tour de Pologne – rekordy" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  23. ↑ "Ciekawostki na 90-lecie Tour de Pologne" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  24. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  28. ↑ "Tour de Pologne w liczbach" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  29. ↑ "Tour de Pologne – rekordy" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  30. ↑ "Tour de Pologne – rekordy" (in Polish). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  31. ↑ "History". Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  32. ↑ "Peter Sagan's triple: Three years on top of the world". Retrieved 1 August 2022.
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