Baltic Chain Tour

Baltic Chain Tour is a stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. Baltic Chain Tour was established to commemorate Baltic Way. Tour is conducted mainly in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, however in 2013 it started in Lahti, Finland. Baltic Chain Tour is a UCI category 2.2 cycling tour.[1]

Baltic Chain Tour
Race details
DateAugust
RegionNorthern Europe
English nameBaltic Chain Tour
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Europe Tour
TypeStage race
Web sitebalticchaintour.com
History
First edition1955 (1955)
Editions28 (as of 2017)
First winner Harijs Japiņš (LAT)
Most wins Ants Väravas (EST) (3 wins)
Most recent Emīls Liepiņš (LAT)
Baltic Chain Tour 2012 – top 3 overall.
Baltic Chain Tour 2012 in Vilnius, Lithuania

The joint Baltic cycling tour has a long history. The tradition began in the 1950s and was broken in 1987. On November 4, 2010 in Riga, the presidents of three national cycling unions signed a cooperation agreement to restore the tradition of the Baltic cycling tour.[2]

Origins

Although the first international cycling race in the Baltics was held in 1889 from Riga (Latvia) to Tallinn (Estonia),[3] the first Baltic Tour was held in 1955. For its first four years the tour was held in Latvia and Lithuania. Since 1959 the tour has been held in three Baltic countries. For many, it was a preparation for the Peace Race, which usually was held after Baltic Tour. At the time, the tour took place in May. The modern tour is raced in August to commemorate the famous Baltic Chain event. The current record holder for most wins is the Estonian Ants Väravas, who won the race three times – in 1959, 1962 and 1964.[4]

Results

Baltic Tour
Year Country Rider Team
1955  Latvia Harijs Japiņš Latvia
1956  Lithuania Kazys Paršaitis Cycling Team Dinamo
1957  Lithuania Bronius Krulikauskas Lithuania
1958  Lithuania Bronius Krulikauskas Lithuania
1959  Estonia Ants Väravas Estonia
1960  Estonia Rein Leegu Estonia
1961  Latvia Aleksandrovs Pavlovs ASK Rīga
1962  Estonia Ants Väravas Estonia
1963  Lithuania Juozas Grabauskas Lithuania
1964  Estonia Ants Väravas Estonia
1972  Lithuania Vytautas Berankis Lithuania
1973  Lithuania Vytautas Paškauskas Lithuania
1974  Latvia Ringolds Kalnienieks Latvia
1975  Latvia Andris Jēkabsons Latvia
1976  Latvia Andris Jēkabsons Latvia
1978  Latvia Andris Sarkanis Latvia
1979  Latvia Arnis Bergs Latvia
1980  Bulgaria A. Mironov Bulgaria
1981  Estonia Jaan Veeranna Estonia
1986  Latvia Ēriks Feldmanis Latvia
1987  Estonia Aivar Murd Estonia

Baltic Chain Tour
Year Country Rider Team
2011  Estonia Erki Pütsep Alpha Baltic–Unitymarathons.com
2012  Lithuania Gediminas Bagdonas Lithuania national team
2013  Germany Philipp Walsleben BKCP–Powerplus
2014  Netherlands Mathieu van der Poel BKCP–Powerplus
2015  Ukraine Andriy Kulyk Kolss BDC Team
2016  Latvia Māris Bogdanovičs Rietumu–Delfin
2017  Norway Herman Dahl Team Sparebanken Sør
2018  Latvia Emīls Liepiņš ONE Pro Cycling

References
  1. Baltic Chain Tour homepage
  2. Estonian Public Broadcasting
  3. Estonian Olympic Committee In Estonian
  4. Delfi.ee In Estonian
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