The Lang Team is pleased to announce that the 73rd edition of the Tour de Pologne UCI World Tour will take place from July 12th to the 18th, 2016.
“Next year there will be the 2016 Olympics in Rio,” says Czeslaw Lang, General Director for the Tour de Pologne. “The Olympic bicycling road races are scheduled between August 6th and the 10th. Therefore, since Tour de Pologne is usually held in the first week in August, moving the dates was the only logical thing to do, to avoid coinciding with the most important world sporting event which happens only once every four years.”
Moving forward the dates will mean that the Tour de Pologne will take place contemporaneously with the Tour de France, which is scheduled from July 2nd to the 24th.
“The same thing happened in 2012, when there were the London Games, and it was absolutely no problem. The Tour de France is and always will be the most important race in the world,” explains Czeslaw Lang. “However, the World Tour teams have the resources to line up competitive squads on several fronts at the same time. Furthermore, by anticipating the date the Tour de Pologne will become the last, short, high-level stage race before the Olympics. Poland can be a valid alternative for all those riders and teams who can’t take part in the Grande Boucle, or who prefer to take on a one week stage race in order to finish training for the big event in Rio”.
Other big news in 2016 will involve the debut of the Women’s Tour de Pologne, scheduled from July 18th to the 20th, which will become part of the new Women’s UCI World Tour calendar.
“The women’s cycling movement, and the universe of pink cycling in general, has grown a lot in the last few years, all over the world but also here in Poland,” explains Czeslaw Lang. “The start of a UCI World Tour calendar dedicated to women is further evidence of this growth trend. This is why we’ve decided to expand the Tour de Pologne to include women, by creating one grand event that will cover a total of 10 days of racing. In fact, in 2016 the men’s 7 stages will be followed by the first edition of the Women’s Tour de Pologne, scheduled from July 18th to the 20th, with an opening team time trial and two in-line stages. The women’s race will be able to count on the support of the entire organizational machine behind the men’s race; this is why we hope that the debut of the Women’s Tour de Pologne will help it go on to become an important appointment on the international pink calendar. Women will also be able to test themselves in Poland as they prepare for the Olympics in Rio.”
