Peace Race
Local name:	Friedensfahrt (German), Závod Míru (Czech), Wyścig Pokoju (Polish)
Region:	East Germany, Poland, Czech Republic
Date:	May
Type:	Stage Race
History
First Edition:	1948
Number of Editions:	57/58
First Winner:	August Prosenik (Yugoslavia)
Most Wins:	Steffen Wesemann (Germany), 5 times

The Peace Race (German: Friedensfahrt, Czech: Závod Míru, Polish: Wyścig Pokoju, French: Course de la Paix) is a cycling event held in hmay. It takes place in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The first Peace Race was held in 1948. That year there were even two Peace Races. One was won by August Prosenik from Yugoslavia, the other by Alexander Zoric from Czechoslovakia. During the Cold War the Peace Race was known as the Tour de France of the East.

Because cyclists from the Eastern Bloc weren't allowed to become professional it was an amateur race. It attracted the best cyclists from communist countries. One of the winners was Sergei Sukhoruchenkov, who also won the gold medal on the Olympic Road Race in 1980. The race was also open for cyclists from non-communist countries. The most successful riders in the Peace Race were Ryszard Szurkowski from Poland and Uwe Ampler from East Germany who won the race 4 times and Steffen Wesemann from Germany who won the race 5 times. Gustav-Adolf Schur, who won the race two times, was voted the most popular sportsman ever of Easy Germany in 1989.

After the end of the Cold War the race rapidly lost importance. Recently however, the race is regaining status. The most recent edition, in 2004 was won by Michele Scarponi from Italy.

External Links:

Official site, in German (http://www.friedensfahrt.de/)

Official site, in Czech and French (http://www.coursedelapaix.cz/)

Unofficial site, in English (http://www.ros.com.au/~mach/peace/peace-main.html)

de:Internationale Friedensfahrt pl:Wyścig Pokoju