53rd Course de la Paix/Friedensfahrt/Peace Race - 2.4

Czech Republic, May 5-13, 2000

1999 Results    Start list     Past Winners

The Stages

  • Stage 1 - May 5: Hanover - Hannover, 177 km
  • Stage 2 - May 6: Wolfsburg - Wernigerode, 167 km
  • Stage 3 - May 7: Wernigerode - Halle, 118 km
  • Stage 4 - May 7: Halle - Leipzig, ITT, 37 km
  • Stage 5 - May 8: Riesa - Zgorzelec (Pol), 170 km
  • Stage 6 - May 9: Luban - Kudowa Zdroj, 191 km
  • Stage 7 - May 10: Klodzko - Kudowa Zdroj, 179 km
  • Stage 8 - May 11: Trutnov (Cze) - Usti u.Laba (Elbe), 231 km
  • Stage 9 - May 12: Most - Karlove Vary, 169 km
  • Stage 10 - May 13: Karlove Vary - Prague, 170 km

Preview

The nine day, ten stage Peace Race/Course de la Paix/Friedensfarht/Wyscig Pokoju begins in Hannover, Germany with a 177 kilometre road stage. Although it is only given a 2.4 category rating by the UCI, the peace race is one of the better known stage races in Europe. Starting shortly after World War II, it is generally raced through Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic (now), although it has crossed into several other European nations during its 53 year history.

This year, there will be four stages in Germany, followed by three in Poland and three in the Czech Republic. It finishes in Prague on May 13 with a 170 kilometre stage. 132 riders will start from 22 teams, inlcuding last year's winner Steffen Wesemann from Telekom. Wesemann will be trying to win the race for an unprecedented 5th time and he certainly has the form - and the team - to do so. Wesemann's teammate, Andreas Klöden is problably his biggest threat for the overall, although it's likely that Telekom would be happy with a victory either way.

The only other rider that could qualify for this record is 35 year old Uwe Ampler, riding for the Bunte Berte Leipzig team this year. Ampler recently returned to competition after a six month ban for drugs and has only completed half a race (the GP Weltour in Poland) since September.

The first stage consists of four 44.3 kilometre circuits starting and finishing in Hannover with one climb per lap of the Gehrdener mountain. This stage will also mark the 100,000th kilometre of the race, also known as the "Tour de France of the East".

Shortly after the stage finish, the presentation of the yellow jersey will be made by ice skating legend, Katarina Witt.

Start list:

Deutsche Telekom               Mapei-Quick Step

1 Steffen Wesemann (Ger)       7 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun)
2 Andreas Klöden (Ger)         8 Nicola Chesini (Ita)
3 Stephan Schreck (Ger)        9 Crescenzo d'Amore (Ita)
4 Danilo Hondo (Ger)           10 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
5 Matthias Kessler (Ger)       11 Antonio Rizzi (Ita)
6 Ralf Grabsch (Ger)           12 Charles Wegelius (GBr)

Farm Frites                    Lampre-Daikin

13 Dirk Ronellenfitsch (Ger)   19 Matteo Algeri (Ita)
14 Steven Kleynen (Bel)        20 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
15 Jans Koerts (Ned)           21 Raivis Belohvosiks (Lat)
16 Gerben Löwik (Ned)	       22 Marco Cannono (Ita)
17 Gennadi Michailov (Rus)     23 Matteo Frutti (Ita)
18 Bram Schmitz (Ned)          24 Juan Garate Cepa (Spa)

Alessio                        Bankgirolotterij-Batavus

25 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita)  31 Kees Jeurissen (Ned)
26  Stefano Casagranda (Ita)   32 Rik Reinerink (Ned)
27 Marco Magnani (Ita)         33 Wim Omloop (Bel)
28 Massimo Strazzer (Ita)      34 Wim van de Meulenhof (Ned)
29 Saza Gajicic (Yug)          35 Paul van Schalen (Ned)
30 Alberto Vinale (Ita)        36 Jan van Velzen (Ned)

Mroz-Supradyn Witamin          KRKA Telekom

37 Piotr Wadecki (Pol)         43 Martin Derganc (Slo)
38 Remigius Lupeikis (Lit)     44 Uros Murn (Slo)
39 Sebastian Wolski (Pol)      45  Kristian Murgeli (Slo)
40 Jaczek Mickiewicz (Pol)     46 Sandi Papez (Slo)
41 Piotr Chmielewksi (Pol)     47 Bostjan Mervar (Slo)
42 Arkadiusz Wojtas (Pol)      48 Milan Erzen (Slo)

Team Cologne                   Team Nürnberger

49 Björn Glasner (Ger)         55 Artur Babaitsev (Rus)
50 Michael Schlickau (Ger)     56 Thomas Liese (Ger)
51 Stefan Kupfernagel (Ger)    57 Jörn Reuss (Ger)
52 Bert Grabsch (Ger)          58 Bert Dietz (Ger)
53 Sören Petersen (Den)        59 Holger Sievers (Ger)
54 Martin Müller (Ger)         60 Jürgen Werner (Ger)

Wüstenrot-ZVVZ                 Colpack

61 Rene Andrle (Cze)           67 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita)
62 Jaroslav Bilek (Cze)        68 Miguel Meza Flores (Mex)
63 Richard Faltus (Cze)        69 Moris Sammassimo (Ita)
64 Thomas Konecny (Cze)        70 Rggiero Torraco (Ita)
65 Peter Bencik (Cze)          71 Fabio Bulgarelli (Ita)
66 Allan Iacuone (Aus)         72 Denis Lunghi (Ita)

Team Gerolsteiner              Agro Adler Brandenburg

73 Rene Haselbacher (Aut)      79 Andreas Kappes (Ger)
74 Thomas Mühlbacher (Aut)     80 Andreas Beikirch (Ger)
75 Volker Ordowski (Ger)       81 Thomas Heidrich (Ger)
76 Branko Filip (Slo)          82 Ronny Lauke (Ger)
77 Olaf Pollack (Ger)          83 Roberto Lochowski (Ger)
78 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger)    84 Christian Lademann (Ger)

PSK Unit Expert                Bunte Berte Leipzig

85 Petr Herman (Cze)           91 Uwe Ampler (Ger)
86 Michal Kalenda (Cze)        92 Robert Förster (Ger)
87 Lubos Kejval (Cze)          93 Enrico Poitscke (Ger)
88 Miloslav Kejval (Cze)       94 Steffen Radochla (Ger)
89 Ondrej Sosenka (Cze)        95 Timo Scholz (Ger)
90 Lubor Tesar (Cze)           96 Andre Schulze (Ger)

MAT Ceresit CCC                Legia Bazylszek

97 Cezary Zamana (Pol)         103 Jaroslaw Rebiewski (Pol)
98 Danis Ozols (Pol)           104 Marcin Lewandowski (Pol)
99 Piotr Przydial (Pol)        105 Krzystof Jezowski (Pol)
100 Zbigniew Piatek (Pol)      106 Robert Koj (Pol)
101 Radoslaw Romanik (Pol)     107 Krzystof Zasada (Pol)
102 Luca Bellumini (Ita)       108 Marek Blazej (Pol)

Atlas Lukullus Ambra           Germany

109 Simoni Zucchi (Ita)        115 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger)
110 Wojciech Pawlak (Pol)      116  Jörg Förster (Ger)
111 Robert Radosz (Pol)        117 Christian Werner (Ger)
112 Fabio Testi (Ita)          118 Jens Lehmann (Ger)
113 Jaroslaw Ryszewski (Pol)   119 Sebastian Lang (Ger)
114 Krzystof Cieselski (Pol)   120 Ronny Scholz (Ger)

Slovakia                       Czech Republic

121 Milan Dvorscik (Svk)       127 Tomas Buchacek (Cze)
122 Radivan Husar (Svk)        128 Ondrej Fadmy (Cze)
123 Robert Nagy (Svk)          129 Michael Mourecek (Cze)
124 Martin Riska (Svk)         130 Mical Prusa (Cze)
125 Jan Sipeky (Svk)           131 Kamil Vrana (Cze)
126 Jan Valach (Svk)           132 David Kupka (Cze)

Past winners

1948    Prosinek (Jug)
1948    Zoric (Jug)
1949    Vesely (Cze)
1950    Emborg (Den)
1951    Olsen (Den)
1952    Steel (GB)
1953    Pedersen (Den)
1954    Dalgaard (Den)
1955    Gustaf-Adolf Schur (E.Ger)
1956    Krolak (Pol)
1957    Christow (Bul)
1958    Damen (Ned)
1959    Gustaf-Adolf Schur (E.Ger)
1960    Hagen (E.Ger)
1961    Melichow (Rus)
1962    Saidchushin (Rus)
1963    Klaus Ampler (E.Ger)
1964    Smolik (Cze)
1965    Lebedjew (Rus)
1966    Guyot (Fra)
1967    Maes (Bel)
1968    Peschel (E.Ger)
1969    Danguilaume (Fra)
1970    Szurkowski (Pol)
1971    Szurkowski (Pol)
1972    Moravec (Cze)
1973    Szurkowski (Pol)
1974    Szozda (Pol)
1975    Szurkowski (Pol)
1976    H.-J. Hartnick (E.Ger)
1977    Pikkuus (Rus)
1978    Awerin (Rus)
1979    Suchorutchenkov (Rus)
1980    Barinow (Rus)
1981    Zagretdinow (Rus)
1982    Olaf Ludwig (E.Ger)
1983    Falk Boden (E.Ger)
1984    Suchorutchenkov (Rus)
1985    Lech Piasecki (Pol)
1986    Olaf Ludwig (E.Ger)
1987    Uwe Ampler (E.Ger)
1988    Uwe Ampler (E.Ger)
1989    Uwe Ampler (E.Ger)
1990    Jan Svorada (Cze)
1991    Rjaksinski (Rus)
1992    Steffen Wesemann (Ger)
1993    Bilek (Cze)
1994    Jens Voigt (Ger)
1995    Pavel Padrnos (Cze)
1996    Steffen Wesemann (Ger)
1997    Steffen Wesemann (Ger)
1998    Uwe Ampler (Ger)
1999    Steffen Wesemann (Ger)

Past Winners courtesy of Mario Stiehl, Berlin