Lech Piasecki

Lech Piasecki (born November 15, 1961 in Poznan ) is a former Polish cyclist .

Athletic career

In 1985 he was world champion of road cycling for amateurs and the first Polish overall winner of the International Peace Ride after 10 years. He won the prologue and then did not give up the yellow jersey. He also won the junior competition and a total of four stages (including the prologue). The previous state amateur switched to the professional camp in 1986. At the cycling world championships on the track in 1988 he won the 4,000 m individual pursuit . In 1990 he ended his career.

Piasecki began his cycling career in 1976 in a small club Orlęta in Myślibórz, Poland . There was a branch of the Orlęta Gorzów Wielkopolski cycling club , in whose jersey Zenon Jaskuła rode , among others . After only two years, Piasecki was given the opportunity to move to Gorzów Wielkopolski and continue his education at Club Orlęta. He was challenged by coach Mieczysław Szurko , a former Polish mountain driving master .

In Gorzów Wielkopolski Piasecki drew attention to himself with quickly achieved successes. In 1979 he won the Youth Spartakiad in the time trial - a sports competition for young people typical of the Eastern Bloc countries. Shortly afterwards he was third in the Polish mountain driving championships. The name Piasecki was already on everyone's lips in 1980. He decided for himself the junior championships and was again third in the mountain driving championships. Zbigniew Rusin , the Polish national coach, appointed him to the Polish national team in 1981, which was preparing for the UCI Road World Championships in Prague .

In 1982 Piasecki was able to record his first major victory on the international level. He won a stage of the Lower Saxony Tour , in which he was also named the best mountain rider. In the same year he drove his rival away in the national championships. Piasecki took double gold in mountain driving and road racing . He also finished fourth in the team time trial at the World Cycling Championships for amateurs in Goodwood . At the latest after his gold medal in the time trial # individual time trial at the Polish cycling championships in 1984, Piasecki convinced his greatest critics.

Piaseckis prevailed on the international stage. At the 38th Peace Run in 1985, he was in the fast lane. Its success was reminiscent of the triumphs of Jan Veselý (1949) and Aavo Pikkuus (1977). From the first to the last day of the race, Piasecki wore the overall leader's jersey. His great coup found a wide echo not only in the press in the communist countries, but also in the West. Piasecki was invited to the Tour of Austria , where he was recognized as the most active racing driver. He was the best climber in the Rhineland-Palatinate Tour .

However, the title of amateur world champion in road racing crowned all of these successes. On August 31, 1985 in Giavera del Montello , Italy , he won the rainbow jersey . In addition, there were gold medals at the Polish cycling championships in time and pair racing (together with his club mate Zenon Jaskuła ). At the end of the year, the Polish sports newspaper " Przegląd Sportowy " chose Piasecki as " Sportsman of the Year ".

At the official gala at which Piasecki received the award, he already had his first professional contract in his pocket. Thus, he was one of the first group of racing cyclists from Eastern Europe to make a leap into the professional camp.

In 1986 he won the time trial at the Giro d'Italia for his new team, Del Tongo Colnago . In general, Piasecki showed himself to be an excellent time trialist on the Tour of Italy in the following years. He even wore the yellow jersey (1987) on the 1st and 2nd stages of the Tour de France . For Piasecki, however, the Giro seemed to be more important, especially since he drove for an Italian team. In 1988 he won both the individual and team time trials. In the period 1989–90 he won three time trials by and large: 1 × at the Tirreno-Adriatico , where he was already successful in 1987, and 2 × at the Giro.

Piasecki didn't just focus on the street races and the fight against the clock. As a teenager he often trained on the track. He also returned to the track for the 1988 World Championships in Ghent , where he won the single pursuit title in the professional category .

At the beginning of 1990 he and Jaskuła joined the newly founded Polish-Italian team Diana Colnago Animex . But as early as April 1991 Piasecki announced that he would finally end his career at the age of only 30. He cited mental exhaustion as the reason why he wanted to quit his career.

Professional

After finishing his career, Piasecki worked as a representative for the bicycle manufacturer Colnago for Poland. As an employee of the LangTeam , the company of his friend Czesław Lang , he is responsible, among other things, as the sports director for the Tour de Pologne .