Date August English name Tour of Germany | Region Germany Discipline Road | |
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Local name(s) Deutschland Tour (German) Competition UCI ProTour (2005–2008) | ||
The Deutschland Tour (English: Tour of Germany and sometimes Deutschland-Rundfahrt in German) was 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. The race has not been held since, but a revival for 2017 was announced on 8 March 2016.Later, in July 2016 the start date was pushed back to 2018.
History
Already in 1911 a "national" cycling race of over 1,500 km 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. In July the race was confirmed as the Deutschland Deine Tour debuting in 2018.