The 52nd year of the Junior Peace Race, a famous cycling race, starts today

Competitors at this year’s 52nd edition will test their strength from May 2 to 5. A total of 403.3 kilometers await them leading across northern Bohemia to neighboring Saxony. As is traditional, the destination city will be Terezín, a place of reverence where it is necessary to remember the message of peace.

The famous event, organized by the Slavoj Terezín Cycling Club, is one of the 9 most prestigious world races. Its roots go back to 1959, when the renowned trainer Jaroslav Menhart was at its birth. Since 1965, it has been run under the name Junior Peace Race. “This year, the Junior Peace Race will take place on the traditional May date, the race will be held in the Ústí Region with one trip to neighboring Saxony. The race is once again included in the highest category, the UCI Men Junior Nations’ Cup, and thus continues the tradition since 1995. To maintain a race in this category is extremely difficult both from an organizational point of view, and in recent years also from a financial point of view ,” says Svatopluk Henke Jr., the director of the race, who last year took over the imaginary scepter from his father Svatopluk Henke Sr., who as a representative wrote his name in gold in the history of Czech cycling, has been organizationally with the Junior Peace Race since 1985 and has been at its head for exactly 29 flight.

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The Junior Peace Race is the only cycling event of its kind in the Czech Republic. The International Cycling Federation (UCI) delegates recognized judges to this prestigious event, and victory in the junior peloton has often catapulted riders to the world’s elite. More than a hundred former participants made their mark in the world’s elite peloton. They include, for example, two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, three-time world and European champion, Paris Roubaix winner and five-time Tour de France green jersey holder Peter Sagan, reigning road and cyclocross world champion Mathieu van der Pool, world world champion on the road and in individual time trials Remco Evenepoel, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, multiple world time trial champion, Paris Roubaix and Tour de France stage winner Fabian Cancellara, Tour de France winner, two-time Vuelta winner and Giro d’ Italia winner Denis Menšov, winner team time trials Olympic Games 1988 and World Champion 1986 Uwe Ampler, World Champion (1991, 1992), winner of Milan San Remo (1990), stage winner of the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France Gianni Bugno or road race winner of the Olympic Games 1988 and stage winner of the Tour de France Olaf Ludwig.

Important Czech riders in the world peloton who participated in the Junior Peace Race include, for example, Josef Černý, Leopold König, Roman Kreuziger, Zdeněk Štybar, František Raboň, Pavel Padrnos, Ján Svorada or Radomír Šimůnek st. Jiří Korous, the winner from 1976, is a regular part of the organizing team, Michael Moureček, the winner from 1998, and Petr Hladík, the first Czech winner from 1966, will visit this year’s event, and František Trkal, the winner from 1988, will bring his racing team as coach.

Participants will also reach beyond the borders

The peloton will visit the centers of the historic cities of Litoměřice, Terezín, Teplice and Roudnice nad Labem. Cyclists can look forward to a ride through the beautiful landscape of the Ore Mountains and the Český středohoří.

The prestigious cycling event will take place in four stages. The first of them begins on May 2 and has a start and finish in Litoměřice. Competitors will cover 100.9 kilometers during the road race. The following day is divided into two parts. Stage 2a includes an 8.8 kilometer long individual time trial, which is run in Třebívlice. Stage 2b with a length of 61.4 kilometers will lead from Roudnice to Štětí. The third stage will take the competitors on May 4 on a 133.9-kilometer track from Teplice to the German town of Olbernhau. “We are very pleased that we can once again welcome the Junior Peace Race to our city. It fills me with pride that Olbernhau is once again the destination of the royal stage of this year’s race. Our city, located in the middle of seven valleys, welcomes you warmly and enthusiastically follows the young cyclists. We are looking forward to many supporters, helpers, service workers, guests and our friends from the Czech Republic. And what’s more, Olbernhau is always worth a visit,” says Jörg Klaffenbach, mayor of Olbernhau.

“The Junior Peace Race lives up to its name. The symbolic power of this race, with participants from many different countries, dates back to the war in Europe and sends an important signal towards peace. The residents of Olbernhau and their guests will give cyclists a great welcome. May the demanding mountain stage to Olbernhau, characterized by high quality, be successful for all competitors,” says Klaffenbach. Cross-border cooperation and the deepening of relations also takes place thanks to the cooperation with the Euroregion Elbe/Labe, the symbol of which is also the participation of the regional team of Saxony.

Source: Courtesy of the Junior Peace Race

The final, fourth part, 98.3 kilometers long, awaits the competitors on May 5 with the traditional start and finish in Terezín. It is in this small fortress town, where a Jewish ghetto was established during the Second World War, that we remember the dark side of our history and the importance of peace. Today in the village, in addition to the Terezín Memorial, you can also visit the unique Museum of the History of Racing Cycling, which also houses the office of the Junior Peace Race. In the museum, those interested can view racing bicycles from private collections or the National Technical Museum, there are also historical and contemporary jerseys including world champions, photographs and a number of other artefacts. You can find the museum at 409 Akademická Street.

Cycling event of the year

The Junior Peace Race, which takes place under the auspices of the Governor of the Ústí Region, is without exaggeration one of the cycling events of the year and is very attractive not only for participants but also for spectators. Every year, hundreds of cycling fans fill the starting square and the finish line of each stage, children always look forward to the peloton passing by. Thanks to cross-border cooperation, children and the public can also look forward to accompanying activities in individual cities. Prizes are presented to the winners by important personalities, representatives of cities and representatives of the top political scene, and guests are also important world-class athletes. We will once again be honored to welcome cycling legends Jan Smolík, celebrating 60 years since his triumph at the Peace Race in 1964, and Karel Vávra, who four years later in 1968 took 2nd place overall at this famous race. Amateur and professional photographers try to capture the colorful peloton from many angles, the race is sought after by talent and autograph hunters.

“Thank you to all the organizers, partners and volunteers who help us prepare this year. Without this help, it is impossible to even think about the preparation of the race, let alone maintain its reputation and try to improve it year after year. We have an organizationally experienced team made up of people passionate about cycling, for whom organizing the Junior Peace Race is really a matter of the heart. The reward for us is watching the competitors, just like us in the past, complete challenging stages and gain valuable experience here, which they then transform into senior categories and become world and European champions, participate in the Olympic Games and world cups among professionals. I watch with enthusiasm every year how the level of junior competitors increases and I have a good feeling that the Junior Peace Race contributes to this to some extent,” adds race director Svatopluk Henke Jr.

Further details about the race are offered by zmj.cz.

Hanka Topolová