The Tour de Pologne (Polish: Wyścig Dookoła Polski; English: Tour of Poland), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's multiple-stagebicycle 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 RepublicIgnacy 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 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.
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]
Throughout the history of Tour de Pologne, two fatal accidents involving riders participating in the race occurred:
On 18 September 1967, 22-year-old Polish rider Jan Myszak (Legia Warsaw) died as a result of head injury sustained in an accident on 17 September during the third stage of the race from Przemyśl to Sanok.[17]
On 5 August 2019, 22-year-old Belgian rider Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto–Soudal) died in a crash 60 miles from the end of the third stage of the race from Chorzów to Zabrze. He was taken by helicopter to hospital but died later on the same day during a surgery as a result of internal hemorrhage.[18][19][20]
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]
Feliks Więcek (POL)
Matej Mohorič (SLO)
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