Baltic Chain Tour

Baltic Chain Tour
Race details
Date	August
Region	Northern Europe
English name	Baltic Chain Tour
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI Europe Tour
Type	Stage race
Web site	balticchaintour.com
History
First edition	1955
Editions	26 (as of 2015)
First winner	Harijs Japiņš (LAT)
Most wins	Ants Väravas (EST)
Most recent	Andriy Kulyk (UKR)

Baltic Chain Tour is a stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. Baltic Chain Tour was established to commemorate Baltic Way. Tour is conducted mainly in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, however in 2013 it started in Lahti, Finland. Baltic Chain Tour is a UCI category 2.2 cycling tour.^[1]

The joint Baltic cycling tour has a long history. The tradition began in the 1950s and was broken in 1987. On November 4, 2010 in Riga, the presidents of three national cycling unions signed a cooperation agreement to restore the tradition of the Baltic cycling tour.^[2]

Origins

Although the first international cycling race in the Baltics was held in 1889 from Riga (Latvia) to Tallinn (Estonia),^[3] the first Baltic Tour was held in 1955. For its first four years the tour was held in Latvia and Lithuania. Since 1959 the tour has been held in three Baltic countries. For many, it was a preparation for the Peace Race, which usually was held after Baltic Tour. At the time, the tour took place in May. The modern tour is raced in August to commemorate the famous Baltic Chain event. The current record holder for most wins is the Estonian Ants Väravas, who won the race three times – in 1959, 1962 and 1964.^[4]

Modern Tour 2011 – present

Year	Country	Rider	Team
2011	Estonia	Erki Pütsep	Alpha Baltic-Unitymarathons.com
2012	Lithuania	Gediminas Bagdonas	Lithuania national team
2013	Germany	Philipp Walsleben	You have called `{{Contentious topics}}`. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification. {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation. {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic. {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic. Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page. {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page. Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page. {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page. If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned. Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.
2014	Netherlands	Mathieu van der Poel	You have called `{{Contentious topics}}`. You probably meant to call one of these templates instead: Alerting users {{alert/first}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/first}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the contentious topics system if they have never received such an alert before. In this case, this template must be used for the notification. {{alert}} ({{Contentious topics/alert}}) is used, on a user's talk page, to "alert", or draw a user's attention, to the fact that a specific topic is a contentious topic. It may only be used if the user has previously received any contentious topic alert, and it can be replaced by a custom message that conveys the contentious topic designation. {{alert/DS}} ({{Contentious topics/alert/DS}}) is used to inform editors that the old "discretionary sanctions" system has been replaced by the contentious topics system, and that a specific topic is a contentious topic. {{Contentious topics/aware}} is used to register oneself as already aware that a specific topic is a contentious topic. Editnotices {{Contentious topics/editnotice}} is used to inform editors that a page is covered by the contentious topics system using an editnotice. Use the one below if the page has restrictions placed on the page. {{Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice}} is used to inform editors that the page they are editing is subject to contentious topics restrictions using an editnotice. Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page. Talk page notices {{Contentious topics/talk notice}} is used to provide additional communication, using a talk page messagebox (tmbox), to editors that they are editing a page that is covered by the contentious topics system. The template standardises the format and wording of such notices. Use the below if there are restrictions placed on the page. {{Contentious topics/page restriction talk notice}} is used to inform editors that page restrictions are active on the page using a talk page messagebox (tmbox). Use the above if there are no restrictions placed on the page. If a user who has been alerted goes on to disruptively edit the affected topic area, they can be reported to the arbitration enforcement (AE) noticeboard, where an administrator will investigate their conduct and issue a sanction if appropriate. {{AE sanction}} is used by administrators to inform a user that they have been sanctioned. Miscellaneous {{Contentious topics/list}} and {{Contentious topics/table}} show which topics are currently designated as contentious topics. They are used by a number of templates and pages on Wikipedia.
2015	Ukraine	Andriy Kulyk	Kolss BDC Team

Stage Winners by Nationality

# of Victories	Country	Riders
6	Lithuania	Gediminas Bagdonas Raimondas Rumšas
5	Ukraine	Volodymyr Gomenuk Yuri Metlushenko Mykhaylo Kononenko Andriy Kulyk
3	Germany	Philipp Walsleben Marcel Meisen Phil Bauhaus
2	Latvia	Indulis Bekmanis Andris Smirnovs
2	Russia	Andrey Sazanov Ivan Balykin
2	Sweden	Alexander Gingsjö
1	Slovakia	Patrik Tybor
1	Estonia	Mihkel Räim
1	Netherlands	Mathieu van der Poel
1	Finland	Matti Manninen

Baltic Tour winners 1955–1987

Year	Country	Rider	Team
1955	Latvia	Harijs Japiņš	Latvia
1956	Lithuania	Kazys Paršaitis	Cycling Team Dinamo
1957	Lithuania	Bronius Krulikauskas	Lithuania
1958	Lithuania	Bronius Krulikauskas	Lithuania
1959	Estonia	Ants Väravas	Estonia
1960	Estonia	Rein Leegu	Estonia
1961	Latvia	Aleksandrovs Pavlovs	ASK Rīga
1962	Estonia	Ants Väravas	Estonia
1963	Lithuania	Juozas Grabauskas	Lithuania
1964	Estonia	Ants Väravas	Estonia
1972	Lithuania	Vytautas Berankis	Lithuania
1973	Lithuania	Vytautas Paškauskas	Lithuania
1974	Latvia	Ringolds Kalnienieks	Latvia
1975	Latvia	Andris Jēkabsons	Latvia
1976	Latvia	Andris Jēkabsons	Latvia
1978	Latvia	Andris Sarkanis	Latvia
1979	Latvia	Arnis Bergs	Latvia
1980	Bulgaria	A. Mironov	Bulgaria
1981	Estonia	Jaan Veeranna	Estonia
1986	Latvia	Ēriks Feldmanis	Latvia
1987	Estonia	Aivar Murd	Estonia

References

^ Baltic Chain Tour homepage
^ Estonian Public Broadcasting
^ Estonian Olympic Committee In Estonian
^ Delfi.ee In Estonian

External links

[news-1] Baltic Chain Tour homepage

[Sports_news-2] Estonian Public Broadcasting

[EOK-3] Estonian Olympic Committee In Estonian

[Delfi-4] Delfi.ee In Estonian

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