Germany tour
The Deutschland Tour is the most important German stage race in road cycling . It has been held irregularly since 1911 under different names (mostly Germany Tour or similar). Before the reintroduction in 2018 , the last events took place between 1999 and 2008 .
history
Beginnings 1911–1939
The first round of cycling tours through Germany started in 1911 under the name Quer durch Deutschland . Also due to the First World War , the next edition was eleven years away. The second edition took place in 1922, with great help from the German bicycle industry . The third tour through Germany was another five years in coming. A well-known sponsor for the German Opel Grand Prize was found in the car and bicycle manufacturer Opel . From then on, Herrmann Schwartz , the company's head of advertising at the time, took care of the organization of the tour until his death in 1953. The third edition was fundamentally different from the other editions to this day. In contrast to the previous stage races, which were finished consecutively within a few weeks or days, several races were now held throughout the year. After three years had passed, the fourth edition began in 1930 and the fifth the following year. However, the competition model from 1927 was abandoned. In 1931 the tour became more international , not only because of its name, the Internationale Opel-Deutschland-Rundfahrt . With the two-time Tour de France winner Nicolas Frantz , a star of the time took part in the tour. For the next six years it was the last bike tour through Germany.
In 1937 a new attempt was made to organize a tour in the style of the great models Tour de France and Giro d'Italia . After the six-year break, there was great interest from industry and the public. The final stage, which ended in the Berlin Olympic Stadium , was watched by over 80,000 spectators there alone. In the following two years the tour took place with great interest. The Greater Germany Tour in 1939 in particular was a superlative tour. Since the National Socialists wanted to demonstrate the size of the empire, it was 5049.6 km longer than the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia and led through both today's Polish territory and the then annexed Austria. In addition, a mountain scoring was introduced for the first time and the team scoring was again included in the winners' lists. Due to the Second World War , the event in 1939 was the last for the time being.
Post-war period 1947–1962
The tour was resumed in 1947 under difficult conditions. In the form of criteria , six races took place in the British occupied zone . Similar events took place in the following two years, with the race once again going through the entire national territory under the name of the IRA Green Belt . There was a further upswing in 1950. Since the UCI had accepted and accepted the western part of Germany as a full member, German racing drivers were again allowed to take part in international races. In addition, international drivers were allowed to compete in races in Germany. The tour remained an integral part of the cycling calendar until 1952. Due to the decreasing interest of the sponsors, the tour did not take place in 1953, although there were already plans for it. For the sponsors, however, the financial outlay was in no reasonable relation to the advertising effect. After another attempt was made in 1955, the next tour through Germany was not made until 1960. Inspired by the successes of German cyclists such as Hennes Junkermann , Rudi Altig and Rolf Wolfshohl , further tours of Germany took place from 1960 to 1962.
Tour of Germany 1979–1982
The success of Dietrich Thurau at the Tour de France 1977 rekindled interest in cycling in Germany, and so a tour was organized for 1979 , which Thurau won. The tour also took place in the following three years. After Thurau, Gregor Braun won in 1980 , Silvano Contini in 1981 and Theo de Rooij in 1982 . Among other things, the decreasing interest of the television companies and a deficit of 300,000 DM in 1982 led to the event being discontinued.
Germany tour 1999-2008
As a result of the cycling boom triggered by Jan Ullrich and Erik Zabel at the end of the 1990s , the tour with the Deutschland Tour 1999 was again included in the international cycling calendar and has since taken place annually between the end of May and the beginning of June. The first edition was won by Jens Heppner in 1999 . With the introduction of the UCI ProTour in 2005, the tour became part of this series of the most important road bike races and from now on it was held in August. In the ProTour times, Levi Leipheimer won in 2005 , Jens Voigt in 2006 and 2007, and finally Linus Gerdemann in 2008 .
The Germany Tour was discontinued after it took place in 2008 . The reason given was that those in charge of ARD announced that the Tour de France 2009 will not be broadcast live on Das Erste. At the time, ZDF was also unable to guarantee that the Germany tour would be broadcast. The resulting loss of income from the broadcasting rights was ultimately also the reason for the cancellation of the Germany tour 2009.
Reintroduction in 2018
After an agreement concluded in 2016 by the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer and the Tour de France organizer Amaury Sport Organization, the Germany Tour was held again in 2018 . In July 2016 it was announced that the tour would initially be held over four stages and that it would be extended to one week in the course of the further events - initially planned until 2028. The 2018 Deutschland Tour was held as a UCI category 2.1 race.
With the new edition of the Deutschland Tour , the organizer developed a four-day cycling festival that includes professional cycling as well as junior races, amateur races and a comprehensive supporting program.
The Germany Tour 2019 was upgraded to the hors category . The Germany Tour 2020 was included in the newly introduced UCI ProSeries .
Name of the tour
The table shows the different names of the tour from 1911 to the present day. The tour was not held in years not listed.
| year | Surname |
|---|---|
| 1911 | Across Germany |
| 1922 | Grand Prix of Germany |
| 1927 | Grand Opel Prize of Germany |
| 1930 | Tour of Germany |
| 1931 | International Opel Germany Tour |
| 1937-1938 | International tour of Germany |
| 1939 | Greater Germany trip |
| 1947 | Green ribbon from the Rhine |
| 1948-1949 | IRA Green Ribbon |
| 1950-1955 | Tour of Germany |
| 1960–1962 | International Afri-Cola Germany tour |
| 1979 | International Vitamalz Tour |
| 1980-1982 | Tour of Germany |
| 1999-2008 | Germany tour |
| since 2018 | Germany tour |
winner
→ Main article: List of winners of the Deutschland Tour
Overall rating 
There were 30 different overall winners among the 31 editions so far. Only the German professional Jens Voigt , who was driving for the Danish cycling team CSC at the time , was able to win the tour twice, namely in 2006 and 2007. Among the 30 winners were 18 German riders. Foreign drivers took the victory back to their home country twelve times. Here the Dutch lead with three wins, followed by the Belgians, Italians and Spanish with two wins each. In addition, an American, a Kazakh and an Australian were able to secure the overall victory.
Mountain scoring 
The mountain classification has been awarded seventeen times so far. No driver could win the classification twice. German drivers have won five times, two Italians, Swiss and Belgians. An Austrian, an American, a Dutch, a Spaniard, a Swede and an Australian follow each with a win.
Scoring 
The scoring has been awarded thirteen times so far. The undisputed leader is the German Erik Zabel , who won the rating seven times between 1999 and 2007. He is also the only one who has won the rating several times. German drivers have won ten times. In addition, a Belgian, an Italian and a Swede were successful.
Young talent evaluation 
The competition, which has only been held since 2006, was won by the Russian Vladimir Gusev in the first year, and the Dutchman Robert Gesink the following year.
See also
Web links
- Official website Germany Tour 2018
- The Germany Tour, Germany tours on cycling4fans.de
- Germany Tour in the database of Radsportseiten.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tour of Germany 1982 on cycling4fans.de
- ↑ Germany Tour 2009 does not take place. deutschland-tour.de, October 17, 2008, archived from the original on September 20, 2014 ; Retrieved April 20, 2016 .
- ↑ After doping wave and TV withdrawal Germany tour 2009 canceled. Focus.de, archived from the original on July 30, 2012 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ Germany tour is coming back - start in 2018 at the latest. Eurosport.de, March 8, 2016, accessed on March 8, 2016 .
- ↑ D-Tour makes a comeback in August 2018 over four days. radsport-news.com, July 19, 2016, accessed July 29, 2016 .
- ↑ Germany tour. Retrieved May 17, 2019 .