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Tour de Pologne
Race details

Date	August
Region	Poland
English name	Tour of Poland
Local name(s)	Wyścig Dookoła Polski
Discipline	Road race
Competition	UCI World Tour
Type	Race stage
Organiser	Lang Team Sp. z o.o.
Race director	Czesław Lang
History
First edition	1928; 97 years ago (1928)
Editions	80 (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 part of the 1929 race.

The main group of riders in the 2004 Tour de Pologne.

Ondřej Sosenka was the winner of the race in 2004.

The 2006 Tour de Pologne passing through Toruń.

The main group finishing stage 2 of the 2019 Tour de Pologne in Katowice.

The start of the third stage of the 2021 Tour de Pologne.

Dariusz Baranowski won the Tour de Pologne three times (1991, 1992, 1993).

The Tour de Pologne (which means Tour of Poland in English) is a big bicycle race for professional male cyclists. It happens every year, mostly in Poland. The race usually has seven or eight parts, called stages, and covers about 1,200 kilometers (around 745 miles).

This exciting race first took place in 1928. It is known as the oldest and most important bicycle race in Poland. Until 1952, the race happened sometimes, but since then, it has been an annual event. For many years, only amateur cyclists could join, and most winners were from Poland. Since 2009, the race has been held in July or August.

The main cycling group, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), made the Tour de Pologne part of the top-level UCI World Tour in 2009. This means it's one of the most important professional men's races in the world. In 2016, a three-stage women's race, Tour de Pologne kobiet, was also organized. Three riders have won the race three times each: Dariusz Baranowski, Andrzej Mierzejewski, and Marian Więckowski.

The History of the Tour de Pologne
Tour de Pologne Winners
- Riders with Multiple Wins
- Winners by Country
Interesting Facts and Records
See Also

The History of the Tour de Pologne

How It All Started

The idea for the Tour de Pologne came from the famous Tour de France race. Two groups, the Warsaw Cycling Society and the Przegląd Sportowy sports newspaper, worked together to start it. The first race, called Wyścig Dookoła Polski (Race Around Poland), happened from September 7-11, 1928.

Seventy-one cyclists rode almost 1,500 kilometers (about 930 miles). The first winner was Feliks Więcek. Important people like President Ignacy Mościcki and Marshal Józef Piłsudski supported the race. Before World War II, the race took place four times. Bolesław Napierała, known as the "Tiger of the Roads," won twice.

Early races were very different from today. Stages were much longer, sometimes 300 kilometers (about 186 miles). Riders often got flat tires on bumpy roads and would stop at local restaurants.

After World War II

After the war, the race started again in 1947. Stanisław Grzelak won this shorter race, which was only four stages and 606 kilometers (about 376 miles). For many years, the Tour de Pologne was not as famous as another race called the Peace Race.

However, some special things happened during this time. Foreign cyclists like Francesco Locatelli and José Viejo won. The longest race ever was in 1953, with 13 stages and 2,311 kilometers (about 1,436 miles). Marian Więckowski won three times in a row (1954–56), a record later matched by Dariusz Baranowski (1991–93).

In 1993, Czesław Lang became the director of the Tour de Pologne. He was a silver medalist in cycling at the 1980 Olympics and had won the Tour de Pologne in 1980. Thanks to his hard work, the race became much more important in the world of cycling.

Becoming a Top Race

In 1997, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) moved the Tour de Pologne into a professional category. It was the first race of its kind in Central and Eastern Europe to get this status. Later, in 1999 and 2001, the race moved up to even higher categories.

In 2005, the UCI decided to include the Tour de Pologne in the UCI ProTour, which was the top level of cycling events. This group included major races like the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. This was a huge step for the Tour de Pologne.

Over the years, Czesław Lang helped turn the race from an amateur event into a well-organized professional competition. This brought many famous cyclists to Poland, including Danilo Di Luca, Vincenzo Nibali, Jonas Vingegaard, Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan, and Remco Evenepoel.

The Tour de Pologne has been named "Best Sport Event of the Year" six times by Przegląd Sportowy newspaper. Some stages of the race have also taken place in other countries, like the Czech Republic, Italy, and Slovakia.

Tour de Pologne Winners

	Rider
1928	Więcek, FeliksFeliks Więcek	Bydgoski Klub Kolarzy
1929	Stefański, JózefJózef Stefański	AKS Warszawa
1933	Lipiński, JerzyJerzy Lipiński	Skoda Warszawa
1937	Napierała, BolesławBolesław Napierała	Polska II
1939	Napierała, BolesławBolesław Napierała	Syrena Warszawa
1947	Grzelak, StanisławStanisław Grzelak	Tramwajarz Łódź
1948	Wójcik, WacławWacław Wójcik	Polska I
1949	Locatelli, FrancescoFrancesco Locatelli	Italy
1952	Wójcik, WacławWacław Wójcik	CWKS Warszawa
1953	Wilczewski, MieczysławMieczysław Wilczewski	Unia Chorzów
1954	Więckowski, MarianMarian Więckowski	CWKS Warszawa
1955	Więckowski, MarianMarian Więckowski	CWKS Warszawa
1956	Więckowski, MarianMarian Więckowski	CWKS Legia Warszawa
1957	Kowalski, HenrykHenryk Kowalski	Lechia Gdańsk
1958	Fornalczyk, BogusławBogusław Fornalczyk	LZS Myszków
1959	Podobas, WiesławWiesław Podobas	CWKS Warszawa
1960	Diercken, RogerRoger Diercken	Belgium
1961	Kowalski, HenrykHenryk Kowalski	Lechia Gdańsk
1962	Kudra, JanJan Kudra	Społem Łódź
1963	Gazda, StanisławStanisław Gazda	Start Bielsko
1964	Zieliński, RajmundRajmund Zieliński	LZS Nowogard
1965	Beker, JózefJózef Beker	LZS Mokrzeszów
1966	Gawliczek, JózefJózef Gawliczek	LZS II
1967	Bławdzin, AndrzejAndrzej Bławdzin	LZS Mazowsze
1968	Kudra, JanJan Kudra	Społem Łódź
1969	Matusiak, WojciechWojciech Matusiak	Arkonia Szczecin
1970	Stachura, JanJan Stachura	Unia Oświęcim
1971	Szozda, StanisławStanisław Szozda	CWKS Legia Warszawa
1972	Viejo, José LuisJosé Luis Viejo	Spain
1973	Lis, LucjanLucjan Lis	Górnik Radzionków
1974	Delcroix, AndréAndré Delcroix	Belgium
1975	Mytnik, TadeuszTadeusz Mytnik	Flota Gdynia
1976	Kowalski, JanuszJanusz Kowalski	Polska
1977	Michalak, LechosławLechosław Michalak	Polska II
1978	Brzeźny, JanJan Brzeźny	Polska I
1979	Charucki, HenrykHenryk Charucki	Metalowiec
1980	Lang, CzesławCzesław Lang	Polska I
1981	Brzeźny, JanJan Brzeźny	Polska I
1982	Mierzejewski, AndrzejAndrzej Mierzejewski	Polska
1983	Krawczyk, TadeuszTadeusz Krawczyk	Polska I
1984	Mierzejewski, AndrzejAndrzej Mierzejewski	Polska
1985	Leśniewski, MarekMarek Leśniewski	Polska
1986	Kulas, MarekMarek Kulas	Polska
1987	Piątek, ZbigniewZbigniew Piątek	Polska
1988	Mierzejewski, AndrzejAndrzej Mierzejewski	LZS I
1989	Wrona, MarekMarek Wrona	JZS Jelcz Oława
1990	Karłowicz, MieczysławMieczysław Karłowicz	JZS Jelcz
1991	Baranowski, DariuszDariusz Baranowski	OZKol Wałbrzych
1992	Baranowski, DariuszDariusz Baranowski	Soia – Górnik
1993	Baranowski, DariuszDariusz Baranowski	Pekaes Lang Rover Legia
1994	Fondriest, MaurizioMaurizio Fondriest	Lampre Panaria Animex
1995	Spruch, ZbigniewZbigniew Spruch	Lampre Panaria Animex
1996	Djavanian, ViatcheslavViatcheslav Djavanian	Roslotto ZG
1997	Järmann, RolfRolf Järmann	Casino – Géant
1998	Ivanov, SergueiSerguei Ivanov	TVM–Farm Frites
1999	Brożyna, TomaszTomasz Brożyna	Mróz
2000	Przydział, PiotrPiotr Przydział	Mat–Ceresit–CCC
2001	Sosenka, OndřejOndřej Sosenka	Ceresit–CCC–Mat
2002	Brochard, LaurentLaurent Brochard	Jean Delatour
2003	Zamana, CezaryCezary Zamana	Action Nvidia–Mróz
2004	Sosenka, OndřejOndřej Sosenka	Acqua & Sapone
2005	Kirchen, KimKim Kirchen	Fassa Bortolo
2006	Schumacher, StefanStefan Schumacher	Gerolsteiner
2007	Vansummeren, JohanJohan Vansummeren	Predictor–Lotto
2008	Voigt, JensJens Voigt	CSC–Saxo Bank
2009	Ballan, AlessandroAlessandro Ballan	Lampre–NGC
2010	Martin, DanDaniel Martin	Garmin–Transitions
2011	Sagan, PeterPeter Sagan	Liquigas–Cannondale
2012	Moser, MorenoMoreno Moser	Liquigas–Cannondale
2013	Weening, PieterPieter Weening	Orica–GreenEDGE
2014	Majka, RafałRafał Majka	Tinkoff–Saxo
2015	Izagirre, IonIon Izagirre	Movistar Team
2016	Wellens, TimTim Wellens	Lotto–Soudal
2017	Teuns, DylanDylan Teuns	BMC Racing Team
2018	Kwiatkowski, MichałMichał Kwiatkowski	Team Sky
2019	Sivakov, PavelPavel Sivakov	Team Ineos
2020	Evenepoel, RemcoRemco Evenepoel	Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2021	Almeida, JoãoJoão Almeida	Deceuninck–Quick-Step
2022	Hayter, EthanEthan Hayter	Ineos Grenadiers
2023	Mohorič, MatejMatej Mohorič	Team Bahrain Victorious

Riders with Multiple Wins

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

#	Country	Victories
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

Interesting Facts and Records

The longest Tour de Pologne race was the 10th edition. It had 13 stages and was 2,311 km long. The shortest race was the 6th edition, with only 4 stages and 606 km.
In 2014, Jonas van Genechten set a speed record. He crossed the finish line at 80 kilometers per hour (about 50 mph) during a stage in Katowice.
Ryszard Szurkowski, a very successful Polish cyclist, rode in the race from 1968 to 1984. He won 15 stages but never won the overall race.
Riders wear different colored jerseys to show who is leading in different categories:
- The yellow jersey is for the overall race leader.
- The pink jersey is for the best climber (mountains classification).
- The white jersey is for the best sprinter.
- The navy blue jersey is for the most active rider.
Each year, about 3.5 million people come to watch the race along the route.
The Tour de Pologne is shown in over 100 countries and in 20 different languages.
On the last day, amateur cyclists can join Tour de Pologne Amatorów. This special race follows the same route as the professionals.
Only two riders have worn the yellow jersey from start to finish: Józef Stefański (1929) and Bolesław Napierała (1937).
The smallest time difference between the winner and second place was just 2 seconds. This happened in 2015 and again in 2017.
Two winners of the Tour de Pologne have also won the UCI Road World Championships: Michał Kwiatkowski (2014) and Peter Sagan (2015, 2016, 2017).