The Peace Race

The event that began building bridges after the ravages of war

- Giles Belbin

When Italian rider Giampaolo Cheula stood on the top step of the podium at the end of the 2006 edition of the Peace Race in Hanover, he stood as the final winner of what had arguably once been the most important of all bike races.

Known as WyÅ›cig Pokoju in Polish, Závod Míru in Czech and Friedensfahrt in German, as the Iron Curtain was drawn across Europe after the Second World War, the countries behind that impenetrable dividing line turned to a humble bike race in an attempt to build unity and identity after the ravages of war had ripped them apart.