The 2014 Tour de Pogne route has been announced yesterday during the official presentation held by its organizers in Warsaw and honoured by the presence of the Nobel Piece Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa. The 71st edition of the sole Polish WorldTour event, held this year from 3rd to 9th August, will visit Gdańsk, Kielce, Katowice and – as it was expected – Slovakian Strebskie Pleso before reaching its conclusion in the individual time trial held in Kraków again.

Since the route of Tour de Pologne 2014 edition was intended to celebrate 25 years of Polish Democracy, the race will return to Gdańsk, Poland’s sixth biggest city, the capital of the Pomerania region and a home of the Solidarność movement, which led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa significantly contributed to Poland’s separation from the Soviet Union. The port city, known for its historical Old Town built during Gdańsk’s most prosperous period as a free city and important point on European trading routes, will host the official start of the race.

“It’s not only about cycling. Tour de Pologne has always been something more and thus we’re trying to show Polish historical background and tradition,” explained race organizer, Czesław Lang.

Riders will one more day in the western Poland to pay a visit to Toruń – a city of Pacyfik Cycling Club, where Polish rising stars of professional cycling were grown in the likes of Michał Kwiatkowski or Michał Gołaś.

Then cyclist will move to a more familiar surroundings of the southern and south-eastern regions of Poland. The latter two sprinter’s stages will traditionally finish in Rzeszów, where Thor Hushovd won in 2013, and Katowice, where his BMC teammate Taylor Phinney scored an impressive triumph.after his memorable escape during final kilometers.

A stage from Rzeszów to Tarnów will celebrate a memory of the late Polish Olympic Champion Stanisław Szozda.

“He kept on telling me: in order to win, you have to give it all and a little bit more than that,” Lang recalled.

First of the Tour de Pologne mountain stages will take a peloton to picturesque Tatra Mountains, although instead of traditional finish in Zakopane – which too often resulted with just yet another bunch sprint, the Polish most renowned ski resort will host a start of a demanding stage to be concluded in Slovakian city of Strebskie Pleso. Organizers didn’t try to hide, that Tour de Pologne’s first visit to Slavakia is an attempt to persuade Peter Sagan to participate again in the event he has won in 2011.

“It would be the first time this race touched down in that country,” Lang said of the proposed Slovakian excursion.

The second mountainous stage will take place on a well-known circuit around Bukowina Tatrzanska, where Sagan and Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) dueled in 2011, while the last day will again feature an individual time trial in Krakow, previously won by Sir Bradley Wiggins.

Tour de Pologne 2014 route:

1 stage (3.08): Gdańsk - Bydgoszcz (226 km)
2 stage (4.08): Toruń - Warszawa (234 km)
3 stage (5.08): Kielce - Rzeszów (180 km)
4 stage (6.08): Tarnów Gemini Park - Katowice (236 km)
5 stage (7.08): Zakopane - Štrbské Pleso (SK) (178 km)
6 stage (8.08) Bukowina - Bukowina (174 km)
7 stage (9.08) Kraków - Kraków (25 km) ITT