Stanislaw Królak

Krolak (top center) and the Polish team in 1961

Krolak 1955 at a finish line

Stanisław Królak (born January 26, 1931 in Warsaw ; † May 31, 2009 there ) was a Polish cyclist . He was the first Polish winner of the International Peace Ride and is considered one of the most famous faces of Polish road cycling .

Life

During his career Królak has worked for two cycling clubs, Sarmata and Legia Warsaw , both from Warsaw. Until 1956, the People's Republic of Poland did not provide a winner of the Peace Tour . Polish cyclists celebrated daily victories, but they were not victorious in the overall standings. It was not until 1956 that Królak was able to win the peace trip. At the same time, he initiated a huge cycling boom in Poland. Only after 14 years did Ryszard Szurkowski achieve a Polish victory again.

Five years after his success in Prague, he passed a final exam at the Sports Academy in Warsaw and has since worked as a trainer, having originally learned to be an electrician. In this role he worked for the clubs Gwardia Warsaw , Legia Warsaw , Polonia Warsaw , Sarmata and Spójnia. In 2008, one year before his death, he was awarded the Officer's Order.

successes

In 1956, Królak received the overall leader's yellow jersey under dramatic circumstances. On the stage from Leipzig to Karl-Marx-Stadt (today Chemnitz) the peloton had to tackle the notorious and feared “Steile Wand von Meerane ” three times . Some racing cyclists even had to get off their bikes because of the steep incline. Together with the Romanian Constantin Dumitrescu , he started a race to catch up with the Italian Aurelio Cestari , who had gained a 3-minute lead.

In addition to his peace run success, Królak has other top results to show. He competed three times in the World Cycling Championships for amateurs (1953, 1955 and 1958). He drove the Peace Drive seven times (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1961) and five times the Tour de Pologne (1953, 1955, 1956, 1958 and 1960). He was also a multiple Polish road, mountain and cyclocross champion. In 1958 he won the Tour of Mazury ( Dookoła Mazowsza ) over 7 stages. In 1961 he took part in the first Tour De France for amateurs, the Tour de l'Avenir .

Web links

• Stanisław Królak in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ^ Friedensfahrt statistics 1951 - 1954. Retrieved on August 27, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Friedensfahrt Statistics 1955 - 1958. Retrieved on August 27, 2017 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Presidium of the Cycling Section of the GDR (ed.): Cycling Week . No. 19/1958 . Berlin 1958, p. 4 .
4. ↑ Cycling archives. Retrieved September 18, 2019 .