View source for Peace Race

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! colspan=2 |'''Peace Race'''
|-
| Local name || Friedensfahrt ([[German Language|German]]), Závod Míru ([[Czech language|Czech]]), Wyścig Pokoju ([[Polish language|Polish]])
|- 
| Region || [[flagiconGermany}} [[Germany]], {{flagiconPoland}} [[Poland]], {{flagiconCzech}} [[Czech Republic]]
|- 
| Date || May
|- 
| Type  || Stage Race
|- 
! colspan="2" bgcolor=darkred| History
|- 
| First Edition || 1948
|- 
| Number of Editions  || 57/58
|- 
| First Winner || [[August Prosenik]] ([[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]])
|- 
| Most Wins || [[Steffen Wesemann]] ([[Germany]]), 5 times
|}


''The Peace Race'' is also a [[1961]] book by [[Seymour Melman]]

The '''Peace Race''' (German: ''Friedensfahrt'', Czech: ''Závod Míru'', Polish: ''Wyścig Pokoju'', French: ''Course de la Paix'') is a [[cycling]] event held in May. It takes place in [[Germany]], [[Poland]] and the [[Czech Republic]].

The first Peace Race - also known as '''[[Warsaw]]-[[Berlin]]-[[Prague]]''' - was held in [[1948]], when there were two editions. One was won by [[August Prosenik]] from [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|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]] were not allowed to become professional it was an amateur race. It attracted the best cyclists from communist countries, plus guest teams from non-communist countries. Communist-bloc riders tended to dominate the event, but there were exceptions: [[United Kingdom|Briton]] Ian Steel won the [[1952]] version, and the [[British League of Racing Cyclists]] team also won the team competition - the first time that both classifications had gone to the same nation.

One of the later winners was [[Sergei Sukhoruchenkov]], who also won the gold medal on the [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] Road Race in [[1980]]. The most successful riders in the Peace Race were [[Ryszard Szurkowski]] from [[Poland]] and [[Uwe Ampler]] from [[East Germany]] who each won the race 4 times and [[Steffen Wesemann]] from [[Germany]] who won the race 5 times. [[Gustav-Adolf Schur]], who won the race twice, was voted the most popular East German sportsman ever 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]].

For [[2005]] the race is cancelled.

== List of Peace Races ==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"
! style="background:darkred;" | Year
! style="background:darkred;" | Route
! style="background:darkred;" | Length
! style="background:darkred;" | Stages
! style="background:darkred;" | Overall Winner
|-
|1948
|[[Warsaw]] - [[Prague]]
|1104 km
|7
|[[August Prosinek]] ([[Yugoslavia]])
|-
|1948
|Prague - Warsaw
|842 km
|5
|[[Alexander Zoric]] (Yugoslavia)
|-
|1949
|Prague - Warsaw
|1259 km
|8
|[[Jan Vesely]] ([[Czechoslovakia]])
|-
|1950
|Warsaw - Prague
|1539 km
|9
|[[Willi Emborg]] ([[Denmark]])
|-
|1951
|Prague - Warsaw
|1544 km
|9
|[[Kay Allan Olsen]] (Denmark)
|-
|1952
|Warsaw - [[Berlin]] - Prague
|2135 km
|12
|[[Ian Steel]] ([[United Kingdom]])
|-
|1953
|[[Bratislava]] - Berlin - Warsaw
|2231 km
|12
|[[Christian Pedersen]] ([[Denmark]])
|-
|1954
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2051 km
|13
|[[Eluf Dalgaard]] (Denmark)
|-
|1955
|Prague - Berlin - Warsaw
|2214 km
|13
|[[Gustav-Adolf Schur]] ([[East Germany]])
|-
|1956
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2212 km
|12
|[[Stanislaw Krolak]] ([[Poland]])
|-
|1957
|Prague - Berlin - Warsaw
|2220 km
|12
|[[Nentscho Christow]] ([[Bulgaria]])
|-
|1958
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2210 km
|12
|[[Piet Damen]] (Netherlands)
|-
|1959
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|2057 km
|13
|Gustav-Adolf Schur (East Germany)
|-
|1960
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|2290 km
|13
|[[Erich Hagen]] (East Germany)
|-
|1961
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2435 km
|13
|[[Juri Melichow]] ([[Soviet Union]])
|-
|1962
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|2407 km
|14
|[[Gainan Saidchushin]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1963
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|2568 km
|15
|[[Klaus Ampler]] (East Germany)
|-
|1964
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2246 km
|14
|[[Jan Smolik]] (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|1965
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|2318 km
|15
|[[Gennadi Lebedjew]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1966
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|2340 km
|15
|[[Bernard Guyot]] (France)
|-
|1967
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2307 km
|16
|[[Marcel Maes]] (Belgium)
|-
|1968
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|2352 km
|14
|[[Axel Peschel]] (East Germany)
|-
|1969
|Warsaw - Berlin
|2036 km
|15
|[[Jean-Pierre Danguillaume]] (France)
|-
|1970
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|1976 km
|15
|[[Ryszard Szurkowski]] (Poland)
|-
|1971
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|1895 km
|14
|Ryszard Szurkowski (Poland)
|-
|1972
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|2025 km
|14
|[[Vlastimil Moravec]] (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|1973
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|2076 km
|P, 16, E
|Ryszard Szurkowski (Poland)
|-
|1974
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|1806 km
|14
|[[Stanislaw Szozda]] (Poland)
|-
|1975
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|1915 km
|P, 13
|Ryszard Szurkowski (Poland)
|-
|1976
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|1974 km
|P, 14
|[[Hans-Joachim Hartnick]] (East Germany)
|-
|1977
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|1648 km
|13
|[[Aavo Pikkuus]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1978
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|1796 km
|P, 12
|[[Alexander Awerin]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1979
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|1942 km
|P, 14
|[[Sergej Suchorutschenkow]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1980
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2095 km
|P, 14
|[[Juri Barinow]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1981
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|1887 km
|P, 14
|[[Shakhid Zagretdinow]] (Soviet Union)
|-
|1982
|Prague - Warsaw - Berlin
|1941 km
|P, 12
|[[Olaf Ludwig]] (East Germany)
|-
|1983
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|1899 km
|P, 12
|[[Falk Boden]] (East Germany)
|-
|1984
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|1689 km
|P, 11
|Sergej Suchorutschenkow (Soviet Union)
|-
|1985
|Prague - [[Moskau]] - Warsaw - Berlin
|1712 km
|P, 12
|[[Lech Piasecki]] (Poland)
|-
|1986
|[[Kiev]] - Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|2138 km
|P, 15
|Olaf Ludwig (East Germany)
|-
|1987
|Berlin - Prague - Warsaw
|1987 km
|P, 14
|[[Uwe Ampler]] (East Germany)
|-
|1988
|Bratislava - [[Katowice]] - Berlin
|2008 km
|P, 13
|Uwe Ampler (East Germany)
|-
|1989
|Warsaw - Berlin - Prague
|1927 km
|12
|Uwe Ampler (East Germany)
|-
|1990
|Berlin - [[Slušovice]] - [[Bielsko-Biała]]
|1595 km
|P, 11
|[[Jan Svorada]] (Czechoslovakia)
|-
|1991
|Prague - Warsaw
|1261 km
|P, 9
|[[Viktor Rjaksinski]] ([[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]])
|-
|1992
|Berlin - [[Karpacz]] - [[Mladá Boleslav]]
|1348 km
|P, 9
|[[Steffen Wesemann]] (Germany)
|-
|1993
|[[Tábor]] - [[Nový Bor]]
|1342 km
|P, 9
|[[Jaroslav Bilek]] (Czech Republic)
|-
|1994
|Tábor - [[Trutnov]]
|1354 km
|P, 9
|[[Jens Voigt]] (Germany)
|-
|1995
|[[České Budějovice]] - [[Oberwiesenthal]] - [[Brno]]
|1379 km
|P, 10
|[[Pavel Padrnos]] (Czech Republic)
|-
|1996
|Brno - [[Żywiec]] - [[Leipzig]]
|1703 km
|P, 10
|Steffen Wesemann (Germany)
|-
|1997
|[[Potsdam]] - Żywiec - Brno
|1629 km
|P, 10
|Steffen Wesemann (Germany)
|-
|1998
|[[Poznań]] - [[Karlovy Vary]] - [[Erfurt]]
|1591 km
|10
|Uwe Ampler (Germany)
|-
|1999
|[[Znojmo]] - [[Polkovice]] - [[Magdeburg]]
|1613 km
|10
|Steffen Wesemann (Germany)
|-
|2000
|[[Hannover]] - [[Kudowa Zdrój]] - Prague
|1608 km
|10
|[[Piotr Wadecki]] (Poland)
|-
|2001
|[[Łódź]] - [[Plzeň]] - Potsdam
|1611 km
|10
|[[Jakob Piil]] (Denmark)
|-
|2002
|České Budějovice - [[Chemnitz]] - Warsaw
|1470 km
|10
|[[Ondřej Sosenka]] (Czech Republic)
|-
|2003
|[[Olomouc]] - [[Wałbrzych]] - Erfurt
|1552 km
|9
|[[Steffen Wesemann]] (Germany)
|-
|2004
|[[Brussels]] - [[Wrocław]] - Prague
|1580 km
|9
|[[Michele Scarponi]] (Italy)
|}
P=[[prologue]], E=[[epilogue]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.friedensfahrt.de/ Official site, in German]
*[http://www.coursedelapaix.cz/ Official site, in Czech and French]
*[http://www.ros.com.au/~mach/peace/peace-main.html Unofficial site, in English]

[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Cycle racing]]