European Peace Ride 2025 supports bid for Tour de France 2029

The European Peace Ride (EPR) celebrated sports culture in Chemnitz's Capital of Culture year 2025. Now the cyclists are setting off again on a cross-border tour - with a new mission. “We want to support Germany’s application for the Tour de France 2029,” says organizer Kai Winkler. To achieve this, the EPR not only includes disabled people more closely. He also wants to build on old images of the international peace trip from before.

The start is on Friday (September 11th) with around 200 cyclists in Zittau. The tour takes them in three stages over around 500 kilometers via Liberec in the Czech Republic and Dresden to Chemnitz, where they are expected on Sunday (September 13th). At the same time, a group of 20 cyclists, some of whom are severely disabled, are also setting off in Zittau, explains Winkler. You will ride a different route and will reunite with the main peloton at the finish.

The European Peace Ride commemorates the international peace ride (1948-2006), which was once a cycling race intended to contribute to European understanding. It was legendary, especially in the GDR and Eastern Europe. Closely linked to this are names like Täve Schur, who was the first GDR driver to win the race in 1955, and Steffen Wesemann, the most successful participant with five overall victories.

Steep wall in Meerane became a legend during the peace trip

This year, the EPR riders are not only traveling through Saxony, Poland and the Czech Republic, but are also passing through a place that has become legendary on the Peace Ride: the Steile Wand in Meerane (Zwickau district). There, the riders not only have to master an incline of 12 percent on their sports bikes, but also have to navigate bumpy cobblestones. According to the information, the peace riders completed this steep route for the first time in 1952; In total there were mountain classifications here 15 times.

A family celebration is planned there for the EPR, at which former professional cyclist Jan Ullrich is also expected.

The European Peace Ride will also pass other well-known locations. A stop is planned at the German Watch Museum in Glashütte and the second stage ends at Dresden's Frauenkirche - "a place that stands like no other for what this trip is about," emphasizes Winkler. At the EPR, sport serves as a bracket for different topics. An economic dialogue is also on the program again.

Last year, the EPR built a sporting bridge between the two European Capitals of Culture 2025, Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Chemnitz. The aim was and is to set an example for peaceful coexistence in Europe.