Baltic Chain Tour is a

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...

for professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

s organized as a part of the

UCI Continental Circuits The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

. Baltic Chain Tour was established to commemorate

Baltic Way The Baltic Way (; ; ) or Baltic Chain (also "Chain of Freedom") was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning across the three Baltic ...

. Tour is conducted mainly in the Baltic states of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, however in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

it started in

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Baltic Chain Tour is a UCI category 2.2 cycling tour. The joint Baltic cycling tour has a long history. The tradition began in the 1950s and was broken in 1987. On November 4, 2010, in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the presidents of three national cycling unions signed a cooperation agreement to restore the tradition of the Baltic cycling tour.Estonian Public Broadcasting
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Origins

Although the first international cycling race in the Baltics was held in 1889 from Riga (Latvia) to Tallinn (Estonia),Estonian Olympic Committee
In Estonian the first Baltic Tour was held in 1955. For its first four years the tour was held in Latvia and Lithuania. Since 1959 the tour has been held in three Baltic countries. For many, it was a preparation for the

Peace Race The Peace Race (, , , (), , , , ) is a cycling race that was established as the largest event in Eastern Europe after the Second World War. Since 2013, it has been run as one of the most prestigious stage races for national U23 teams. Histo ...

, which usually was held after Baltic Tour. At the time, the tour took place in May. The modern tour is raced in August to commemorate the anniversary of the famous

event in 1989. The current record holder for most wins is the Estonian

Ants Väravas Ants Väravas (10 June 1937 – 20 August 2018) was an Estonian cyclist, coach and sport personnel. He was born in Tallinn. In 1966 he graduated from Tallinn Pedagogical Institute's Faculty of Physical Education. He began his sport career in 1952 ...

, who won the race three times – in 1959, 1962 and 1964.Delfi.ee
In Estonian

Results

Baltic Tour

Baltic Chain Tour

References

External links

* {{Inter-Baltic competitions Cycle races in Lithuania Cycle races in Latvia Cycle races in Estonia Recurring sporting events established in 2011 2011 establishments in Lithuania 2011 establishments in Estonia 2011 establishments in Latvia International cycle races hosted by Estonia Summer in Estonia Summer in Latvia Summer in Lithuania Sport in the Baltic states