Peace Race


The Peace Race was an annual multiple stage bicycle race held in the Eastern Bloc states of Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland. First organized in 1948, it was originally created with the intent of relieving tensions existing between Central European countries following the interwar period and World War II.
Maintained by the three states ruling Communist parties' newspapers, it was dubbed to be the "world's biggest amateur cycling race" and "Tour de France of the East".
Following the fall of Communism in 1989, the Peace Race was no longer state-sponsored and organizers faced trouble with gathering funds. The event was last held in 2006.

History

The first Peace Race was held in 1948, when there were two editions connecting the cities of Warsaw and Prague. The one to Prague was won by August Prosinek, the other one to Warsaw by Alexander Zoric, both from Yugoslavia. During the Cold War the Peace Race was known as the 'Tour de France of the East'.
Because cyclists from the Eastern Bloc were not allowed to become professional; it was a purely amateur race. It attracted the best cyclists from communist countries, plus guest teams from non-communist countries. Communist-bloc riders tended to dominate the event, but there were exceptions: Briton Ian Steel won the 1952 race, and the British League of Racing Cyclists team also won the team competition – the first time that both classifications had gone to the same nation.
An Indian team took part in the race in 1952, 1954 and 1955. Indian racers were popular with the public, although they were not competitive. In 1954, Supravat Chravati completed the race in 77th position, 19 hours and 16 seconds after the winner. In 1955, Dhana Singh finished 28 hours, 24 minutes and 38 seconds after the winner.
One of the later winners was Sergei Sukhoruchenkov, who also won the gold medal on the Olympic Road Race in 1980.
The most successful riders in the Peace Race were: Steffen Wesemann from Germany who won the race five times; Ryszard Szurkowski from Poland and Uwe Ampler from East Germany each won the race four times. Gustav-Adolf Schur, who won the race twice, was voted the most popular East German sportsman ever in 1989.
After the end of the Cold War the race lost its significance. No race was held in 2005, and the 2006 race turned out to be the last.
In 2006, the 58th edition took place on 13-20 May. It started in Linz in Austria and via the Czech Republic headed to Germany where it ended in Hannover. No capital city of these countries were crossed during the race.
After 2006, the race was removed from the cycling calendar.

Legacy

In April/May 2012 Alan Buttler organised a as a tribute to his father, Alf Buttler, who was the GB cycling team mechanic for many events in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He was joined by former peace riders including Gustav-Adolf Schur, Geoff Wiles, John Woodburn, Alan Jacob, and :de:Axel Peschel|Axel Peschel.
There is a in Kleinmühlingen in Germany dedicated to the Peace Race.

Junior Peace Race

A Junior Peace Race was first held in 1965 and held again the following year. After a hiatus it was revived in 1974 and has been held every year since, continuing after the senior race was no longer organised. Several riders who won the junior race have gone on to senior success, including Roman Kreuziger, Sr., Roman Kreuziger, Jr., Denis Menchov, Fabian Cancellara, Peter Velits, Tanel Kangert and Michal Kwiatkowski.

Peace Race U23

An Under-23 Peace Race for riders under 23 years was added in 2013. From 2015 the race has been part of the UCI Under 23 Nations' Cup.

List of races

YearRouteLength
StagesOverall winnerWinning team
1948Warsaw - Prague11047August Prosinek Poland I
1948Prague - Warsaw8425Alexander Zoric Poland I
1949Prague - Warsaw12598Jan Veselý France II
1950Warsaw - Prague15399Willi Emborg Czechoslovakia
1951Prague - Warsaw15449Kaj Allan Olsen Czechoslovakia
1952Warsaw - Berlin - Prague213512Ian Steel United Kingdom
1953Bratislava - Berlin - Warsaw223112Christian Pedersen East Germany
1954Warsaw - Berlin - Prague205113Eluf Dalgaard Czechoslovakia
1955Prague - Berlin - Warsaw221413Gustav-Adolf Schur Czechoslovakia
1956Warsaw - Berlin - Prague221212Stanisław Królak Soviet Union
1957Prague - Berlin - Warsaw222012Nencho Khristov East Germany
1958Warsaw - Berlin - Prague221012Piet Damen Soviet Union
1959Berlin - Prague - Warsaw205713Gustav-Adolf Schur Soviet Union
1960Prague - Warsaw - Berlin229013Erich Hagen East Germany
1961Warsaw - Berlin - Prague243513Yuriy Melikhov Soviet Union
1962Berlin - Prague - Warsaw240714Gainan Saydkhushin Soviet Union
1963Prague - Warsaw - Berlin256815Klaus Ampler East Germany
1964Warsaw - Berlin - Prague224614Jan Smolík East Germany
1965Berlin - Prague - Warsaw231815Gennady Lebedev Soviet Union
1966Prague - Warsaw - Berlin234015Bernard Guyot Soviet Union
1967Warsaw - Berlin - Prague230716Marcel Maes Poland
1968Berlin - Prague - Warsaw235214Axel Peschel Poland
1969Warsaw - Berlin203615Jean-Pierre Danguillaume East Germany
1970Prague - Warsaw - Berlin197615Ryszard Szurkowski Poland
1971Warsaw - Berlin - Prague189514Ryszard Szurkowski Soviet Union
1972Berlin - Prague - Warsaw202514Vlastimil Moravec Soviet Union
1973Prague - Warsaw - Berlin2076P, 16, ERyszard Szurkowski Poland
1974Warsaw - Berlin - Prague180614Stanisław Szozda Poland
1975Berlin - Prague - Warsaw1915P, 13Ryszard Szurkowski Soviet Union
1976Prague - Warsaw - Berlin1974P, 14Hans-Joachim Hartnick Soviet Union
1977Warsaw - Berlin - Prague164813Aavo Pikkuus Soviet Union
1978Berlin - Prague - Warsaw1796P, 12Alexander Averin Soviet Union
1979Prague - Warsaw - Berlin1942P, 14Sergei Sukhoruchenkov Soviet Union
1980Warsaw - Berlin - Prague2095P, 14Yuriy Barinov Soviet Union
1981Berlin - Prague - Warsaw1887P, 14Shakhid Zagretdinov Soviet Union
1982Prague - Warsaw - Berlin1941P, 12Olaf Ludwig East Germany
1983Warsaw - Berlin - Prague1899P, 12Falk Boden East Germany
1984Berlin - Prague - Warsaw1689P, 11Sergei Sukhoruchenkov Soviet Union
1985Prague - Moscow - Warsaw - Berlin1712P, 12Lech Piasecki Soviet Union
1986Kiev - Warsaw - Berlin - Prague2138P, 15Olaf Ludwig Soviet Union
1987Berlin - Prague - Warsaw1987P, 14Uwe Ampler East Germany
1988Bratislava - Katowice - Berlin2008P, 13Uwe Ampler Soviet Union
1989Warsaw - Berlin - Prague192712Uwe Ampler East Germany
1990Berlin - Slušovice - Bielsko-Biała1595P, 11Ján Svorada Czechoslovakia
1991Prague - Warsaw1261P, 9Viktor Rakshinsky Poland
1992Berlin - Karpacz - Mladá Boleslav1348P, 9Steffen Wesemann Germany
1993Tábor - Nový Bor1342P, 9Jaroslav Bílek Czech Republic
1994Tábor - Trutnov1354P, 9Jens Voigt Czech Republic
1995České Budějovice - Oberwiesenthal - Brno1379P, 10Pavel Padrnos Poland
1996Brno - Żywiec - Leipzig1703P, 10Steffen Wesemann Team NE Telekom
1997Potsdam - Żywiec - Brno1629P, 10Steffen Wesemann Team Deutsche Telekom
1998Poznań - Karlovy Vary - Erfurt159110Uwe Ampler Team Mroz
1999Znojmo - Polkowice - Magdeburg161310Steffen Wesemann Team Mroz
2000Hannover - Kudowa Zdrój - Prague160810Piotr Wadecki Team Nürnberger
2001Łódź - Plzeň - Potsdam161110Jakob Piil no competition
2002České Budějovice - Chemnitz - Warsaw147010Ondřej Sosenka Team Mroz
2003Olomouc - Wałbrzych - Erfurt15529Steffen Wesemann Team CCC Polsat
2004Brussels - Wrocław - Prague15809Michele Scarponi T-Mobile Team
2006Linz - Karlovy Vary - Hannover12838Giampaolo Cheula Team Unibet.com

P=prologue, E=epilogue

Most individual wins

Cyclists with three wins at least listed
Overall:
Sprinter competition:
Mountain climbers competition:
Individual overall competitions were won by cyclist from following countries: