The Peace Race (, , , (), , , , ) is a cycling race that was established as the largest event in Eastern Europe after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Since 2013, it has been run as one of the most prestigious stage races for national U23 teams.

History

At the outset, due to the political situation, it was a nominally "amateur" event, which therefore excluded participation of Western cycling stars. Nevertheless, the organisers were able to give the event an international character thanks to the start of competitors from the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

sphere. Workers' organisations from Italy, France and

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, ...

also sent their representatives. In

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, forty-five years after the first edition of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, seven teams set off to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and ten from

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. The race was officially called Slavjantour and took place between Prague and Warsaw. It was actually two races. A seven-stage race starting in Prague and a five-stage race from Warsaw. That first year, 53 competitors set off from Prague to cover 1,106 kilometres; 39 of them reached Warsaw after the seven stages. In the opposite direction, the course measured 880 km and 65 riders attempted to cover the five sections, although only 52 arrived in Prague. The winner's yellow jersey, modelled on the Tour de France, was claimed by

Yugoslavs Yugoslavs or Yugoslavians ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslaveni/Jugosloveni, Југославени/Југословени; ; ) is an identity that was originally conceived to refer to a united South Slavic people. It has been used in two connotations: ...

in both destination cities: in Prague Alexander Zorič (35:53.16 hours and an average speed of 30.7 km/h), in Warsaw Augustin Prosenik (26:52.25 hours, 32.4 km/h). It was not until 1950 that the official name was changed to the Peace Race. Gradually, the race gained in popularity and repute, although it remained open only to amateurs and state-funded Soviet Bloc cyclists. From 1952,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

was added to the host countries and the races took place between Prague,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Warsaw. The opening stage starting locations and the finish line of the final stage alternated. In the eighties, the then

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was also included in the list of host countries. After the break-up of the Czechoslovak Federation in the spring of 1993, the race remained almost exclusively in the territory of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. Thirteen years later the final edition of the Peace Race took place. Financial problems caused the collapse of the organisation. Steffen Wesemann of Germany has the most victories in the history of the Peace Race. However, his five triumphs date to the period after 1989, when the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

took place in Czechoslovakia. Pole Ryszard Szurkowski and German Uwe Ampler can each boast four victories in the Peace Race. German Olaf Ludwig was the absolute king among the sprinters, and he dominated the points competition eight times. Ryszard Szurkowski won three overall victories. In the mountain climbing competition, the best with three victories each are Sergej Suchoruchenkov from the then

, Uwe Ampler and Czech competitor, Jaroslav Bílek. Czech and Czechoslovakian cyclists have also left an indelible mark in history of the Peace Race. Victory was celebrated by Jan Veselý (1949), Jan Smolík (1964), Vlastimil Moravec (1972),

Ján Svorada Ján Svorada (born 28 August 1968 in Trenčín) is a retired Slovak and Czech road racing cyclist. He was born in Czechoslovakia; when that country split up in 1993, he raced for Slovakia until 1996, when he started racing for the Czech Repub ...

(1990), Jaroslav Bílek (1993),

Pavel Padrnos Pavel Padrnos (born 17 December 1970) is a Czech former professional road racing cyclist, most recently with whom he was with between 2002 and 2007. His major individual success is the win in Peace Race in 1995. He competed at the 1992 Summe ...

(1995) and Ondřej Sosenka (2002). .

Legacy

In April/May, 2012 Alan Buttler organised a re-run of the 1955 Peace Race 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 Axel Peschel. There is a museum 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 Denis Nikolayevich Menshov (often mistakenly romanized as Menchov, ; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general classification rider ...

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

, Peter Velits, Tanel Kangert and Michal Kwiatkowski.

Peace Race U23

2013 saw a revival of the race, but in a completely different format. It became a race for national teams of cyclists under 23 years old. Since the 2015 season it has been part of the prestigious Nations Cup series. Initially the race had just three stages, but this was expanded to four stages in the fourth year of the race. Past years have seen stars of the current world peloton, such as Tadej Pogačar, Tao Geoghegan Hart,

Julian Alaphilippe Julian Alaphilippe (; born 11 June 1992) is a French professional road cyclist, former cyclo-cross racer and two-time UCI World Road Champion, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He is the brother of racing cyclist Bryan Alaphilippe. Career E ...

and Marc Hirschi, lined up at the start of the race. The Peace Race U23 is ridden over exceptionally demanding courses in the Jeseníky hills, which makes it the perfect proving ground for World Tour candidates. "Every year we see young talents on the Peace Race who will soon appear on the rosters of elite division teams. Individual national teams send their best cyclists to the Peace Race. The stages of our race are regularly praised for revealing the strengths of the riders. Without exaggeration, we can say that it is a race comparable to those somewhere in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

or the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

," says

Leopold König Leopold König (born 15 November 1987) is a Czech Republic, Czech former professional road bicycle racing, road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019 for the , , and teams. Since retiring, he has acted as the race director for ...

, director of the Under-23 Peace Race.

List of races

* P =

prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...

* E =

epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...

Most individual wins

''Cyclists with three wins at least listed'' Overall: * 5 wins: Steffen Wesemann * 4 wins: Ryszard Szurkowski, Uwe Ampler Sprinter competition: * 8 wins: Olaf Ludwig * 3 wins: Ryszard Szurkowski Mountain climbers competition: * 3 wins: Sergei Sukhoruchenkov, Uwe Ampler, Jaroslav Bílek

Most team wins

* 20 wins: Soviet Union * 10 wins: East Germany * 9 wins: Poland * 5 wins: Czechoslovakia * 3 wins: Team Mroz

Winners by country

Individual overall competitions were won by cyclist from following countries: * 12 wins: East Germany * 10 wins: Soviet Union * 7 wins: Poland, Germany * 5 wins: Denmark * 4 wins: Czechoslovakia * 3 wins: Czech Republic * 2 wins: SFR Yugoslavia, France, Italy * 1 win: United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Belgium

References

* * 01. K. Małcużyński, Zygmund Weiss : ''Kronika wielkiego wyścigu'', Ksiażka i wiedza, Warszawa, 1952 02. Adolf Klimanschewsky: ''Warschau-Berlin-Prag. Ein Erlebnisbericht von der Friedensfahrt 1952''. Sportverlag, Berlin, 1953. 03. Brigitte Roszak/Klaus Kickbusch (Redaktion): ''Friedensfahrt''. Sportverlag, Berlin, 1954. 04. ''VII. Internationale Friedensfahrt''. Volkskunstverlag Reichenbach, 1955. 05. ''VIII. Wyscig Pokoju, Zavod Miru, Friedensfahrt.'' Verlag: Sport i Turystika, Warszawa 1955. 06. Horst Schubert: ''Etappengefüster.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1956. 07. Horst Schubert u.a.:''Jedes Jahr im Mai.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1957. 08. Herbert Kronfeld: ''Zwischen Start und Ziel.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1957. 09. Egon Lemke: ''Giganten der Pedale.'' Verlag Junge Welt, Berlin, 1958. 10. Autorenkollektiv: ''Friedensfahrt''. Sportverlag, Berlin, 1962. 11. Klaus Ullrich: ''Kluge Köpfe – schnelle Beine.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1963. 12. ''Alles über alle Friedensfahrer''. Verlag Neues Deutschland, Berlin, 1964. 13. ''Täves Friedensfahrtlexikon''. Verlag Neues Deutschland, Berlin, 1965. 14. Klaus Ullrich (Hrsg.): ''Fahrt der Millionen.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1967. 15. ''Trzdziesci lat Wyscigu Pokoju.'' Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warszawa, 1977. 16. Klaus Ullrich: ''Die große Fahrt.'' Sportverlag, Berlin, 1977. 17. Günter Teske: ''Das gelbe Trikot.'' Verlag Neues Leben, Berlin, 1981. 18. Klaus Ullrich: ''Jedes Mal im Mai'', Sportverlag, Berlin, 1986, . 19. Ulf Harms: ''Der verschwundene Friedensfahrer.'' Militärverlag der DDR, Berlin, 1987, . 20. Gustav-Adolf Schur (Hrsg.): ''Friedensfahrt,'' Spotless-Verlag, Berlin, 1995, . 21. Tilo Köhler: ''Der Favorit fuhr Kowalit: Täve Schur und die Friedensfahrt.'' Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, 1997, . 22. Manfred Hönel/Olaf Ludwig: ''100 Highlights Friedensfahrt.'' Sportverlag, Berlin,1997, . 23. Maik Märtin: ''50 Jahre Course de la Paix'', Agentur Construct, Leipzig, 1998, ISBN: ohne. 24. Klaus Ullrich Huhn: ''Die Geschichte der Friedensfahrt.'' Spotless-Verlag, Berlin, 2001, . 25. Bogdan Tuszynski/ Daniel Marszalek: ''Wyscik Pokoju 1948–2001'', Verlag FDK Warszawa, Warszawa, 2002, 26. Andreas Ciesielski: ''Das Wunder von Warschau'', Scheunen-Verlag, Kückenshagen, 2005, 27. Alan Buttler/Klaus Huhn: ''Wie die Friedensfahrt "ausgegraben" wurde'', NORA Verlagsgemeinschaft Dyck & Westerheide, Berlin, o.J., 28. Rainer Sprehe: ''Alles Rower? Ein Wessi auf Friedensfahrt.'' Covadonga-Verlag, Bielefeld 2012, Audio/Video: * ''Kopfsteinpflaster und Asphalt.'' Radio-Feature des MDR. 1 CD. Pool Music und Media, 1998, 4260031180232. * Hagen Boßdorf: ''Geschichte der Friedensfahrt.'' VHS-Video. 1997, . * ''Friedensfahrt Course de la Paix'' 1978, Dokumentation des WDR, Köln, 1978 * ''Damals in der DDR.'' 3 CDs, 2001, BMG 743218855023. {{Authority control Defunct cycling races in Germany Cycle races in Slovakia Defunct cycling races in the Czech Republic Cycle racing in East Germany UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 1948 1948 establishments in Czechoslovakia 1948 establishments in Germany 1948 establishments in Poland Recurring events disestablished in 2006 Eastern Bloc Cold War Czechoslovakia–Poland relations International cycle races hosted by Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia–East Germany relations East Germany–Poland relations Czech Republic–Germany sports relations Czech Republic–Poland sports relations Germany–Poland relations International cycle races hosted by Germany International cycle races hosted by Poland International cycle races hosted by the Czech Republic International sports competitions hosted by East Germany International sports competitions hosted by Slovakia Defunct cycling races in Slovakia