The Deutschland Tour (English: Tour of Germany and sometimes Deutschland-Rundfahrt in German) is the most important multi-stage road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but from 2005 until 2008 it was moved to August as part of the UCI ProTour. On October 16, 2008, the organizers announced that the 2009 edition would be cancelled, following the doping cases that were revealed in the sport of cycling. Marketing chiefs said they were unable to finance the nine-day race due to a lack of interested sponsors after the latest revelations of cyclists testing positive for the blood-booster CERA. A revival for 2017 was announced on 8 March 2016.[1] In 2018, the A.S.O. revived the Deutschland Tour and included a 4-stage-race into a cycling festival. From 23 August to 26 August 2018, the Deutschland Tour took place in the South-Western region of Germany.[2]

Deutschland Tour
Race details
DateAugust
RegionGermany
English nameTour of Germany
Local name(s)Deutschland Tour (in German)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI ProTour (2005–2008)
UCI Europe Tour (2018–2019)
UCI ProSeries (2021–)
TypeStage-race
OrganiserGesellschaft zur Förderung des Radsports mbH
Web sitewww.deutschland-tour.com Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition1911 (1911)
Editions38 (as of 2024)
First winner Hans Ludwig (GER)
Most wins Jens Voigt (GER) (2 wins)
Most recent Mads Pedersen (DNK)

The 2019 race was held from 29 August to 1 September.

History

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Beginning in 1911 a "national" cycling race of over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) was held in Germany (which was then composed of several territories and kingdoms). Until 1931 several real—more-or-less—Tours were held, but always under very different conditions and organisations. In 1931 the first Deutschlandtour was held, and it is generally agreed upon that the race was exciting and well organised between 1937 and 1939, the start of World War II.

Germany never had a significant road cycling history, unlike Belgium, France or Italy, which caused the race's popularity to depend on German successes. This resulted in several parallel tours of West-Germany.

But after Jan Ullrich's Tour de France victory, cycling became more popular. Partially as a result of Germany's new-found cycling enthusiasm, in 1999 the Deutschlandtour became invigorated. In 1998 the Bund Deutscher Radfahrer e.V. and the company Upsolut founded the Deutschland Tour gmbh.

In March 2016, the Amaury Sport Organisation announced it had signed a 10-year deal with the German Cycling Federation to bring the race back within the next two years.[3] In July the race was confirmed as the Deutschland Deine Tour debuting in 2018, reduced to four stages and relegated to a UCI 2.1 European Tour race.[4] The race is part of the new UCI ProSeries since 2021.[5]

Past winners

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Jens Voigt (pictured at the 2006 Deutschland Tour) is the only rider with two Deutschland Tour wins.
 
Matej Mohorič won the 2018 edition.
Year Country Rider Team
1911   Germany Hans Ludwig
1912–1921 No race
1922   Germany Adolf Huschke
1923–1926 No race
1927   Germany Rudolf Wolke
1928–1929 No race
1930   Germany Hermann Buse Dürkopp Adler
1931   Germany Erich Metze
1932–1936 No race
1937   Germany Otto Weckerling Dürkopp Adler
1938   Germany Hermann Schild Presto
1939   Germany Georg Umbenhauer RV Union 1886-Nürnberg
1940–1946 No race due to World War II
1947   Germany Erich Bautz Patria W.K.C.
1948   Germany Phillip Hilpert
1949   Germany Harry Saager Rabeneick
1950   Belgium Roger Gyselinck
1951   Italy Guido de Santi Colomb-Manera
1952   Belgium Isidore Derijck
1953–1954 No race
1955   West Germany Rudi Theissen
1956–1959 No race
1960   Netherlands Ab Geldermans Rapha–Gitane–Dunlop
1961   West Germany Friedhelm Fischerkeller Faema
1962   Netherlands Peter Post Flandria–Faema-Clement
1963–1978 No race
1979   West Germany Dietrich Thurau IJsboerke
1980   West Germany Gregor Braun Sanson–Campagnolo
1981   Italy Silvano Contini Bianchi–Faema
1982   Netherlands Theo de Rooij Capri Sonne
1983–1998 No race
1999   Germany Jens Heppner Team Telekom
2000   Spain David Plaza S.L. Benfica
2001   Kazakhstan Alexander Vinokourov Team Telekom
2002   Spain Igor González de Galdeano ONCE
2003   Australia Michael Rogers Quick Step–Davitamon
2004   Germany Patrik Sinkewitz Quick Step–Davitamon
2005   United States Levi Leipheimer Gerolsteiner
2006   Germany Jens Voigt Team CSC
2007   Germany Jens Voigt Team CSC
2008   Germany Linus Gerdemann T-Mobile Team
2009–2017 No race
2018   Slovenia Matej Mohorič Bahrain–Merida
2019   Belgium Jasper Stuyven Trek–Segafredo
2020 No race due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021   Germany Nils Politt Bora–Hansgrohe
2022   Great Britain Adam Yates Ineos Grenadiers
2023   Belgium Ilan Van Wilder Soudal–Quick-Step
2024   Denmark Mads Pedersen Lidl–Trek

References

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  1. ^ "ASO to revive Deutschland Tour as part of major agreement to develop cycling in Germany".
  2. ^ "Neuauflage der Deutschland Tour live bei ARD und ZDF | Sportschau". Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen (ARD) (in German). Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  3. ^ Patrick Fletcher. "Deutschland Tour to re-launch as ASO sign 'groundbreaking' partnership with German federation". Cyclingnews.com.
  4. ^ "AG2R La Mondiale extends sponsorship through 2020 - News Shorts - Cyclingnews.com".
  5. ^ "Deutschland Tour". FirstCycling.com. 2023.
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