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THE HISTORY OF BELARUSIAN CYCLING
Today, cycling in the Republic of Belarus consists of 7 regional branches of the Belarusian Cycling Federation, 26 cycling schools, 146 coaches, more than 3,000 riders and 150 days of exciting competitions, including competitions of the national calendar, participation of Belarusian riders in the main starts of the season – World Cup stages, world and European championships, Olympic Games.
The Belarusian cycling school has educated such outstanding athletes as Olympic champions Vladimir Kaminsky (highway), Oleg Logvin (highway), Valery Movchan (track), Olympic bronze medalist, 8-time world champion Natalia Tsilinskaya (track), world champion Vasily Kiriyenko (track), world and European champion Tatyana Sharakova (track), world champion Alexander Lisovsky (track), world champion Zinaida Stagurskaya (highway), world champion Olga Panarina (track), world champion U23 Konstantin Sivtsov (highway), world junior champions Anton Muzychkin and Vasily Repinsky (track). Many Belarusian racers compete in the world’s leading professional teams, participate and win stages of legendary bicycle races.
In recent years, the city of Minsk has several times become the venue for the largest international cycling competitions. In 2009, the European Track Cycling Championship was successfully held at the Minsk Arena velodrome. In 2013, the Republic of Belarus was entrusted with the right to host the most prestigious competition in the world of cycling – the Track Cycling World Championship. The competitions in the Belarusian capital were organized at the highest level and were highly appreciated by the International Cycling Union (UCI), as well as participants and guests. The World Forum became a landmark event in the country’s sports life, allowed numerous cycling fans to watch live the performance of the world’s leading cyclists and gave an additional impetus to the popularization of cycling and cycling.
Cycling infrastructure is actively developing in the republic: New bike paths are being built, bike routes for outdoor enthusiasts are being created, bike marathons and bike rides with the participation of amateur cyclists are regularly held. More and more supporters of a healthy lifestyle in the capital and in the regions prefer bicycles. According to the latest data, there are about 1.5 million bicycle owners in Belarus, including over 400 thousand Minsk residents. About 250 thousand Belarusians actively use this transport in their daily lives.
The history of cycling in Belarus dates back to 1895, when the first bicycles appeared in Vitebsk and then in other cities. Three years later, in 1898, the first competitions were held in the Belarusian province.
The first cycling championship of the Republic was held in 1926. Since the thirties, multi-day races have been regularly held in Belarus along routes running throughout the country.
The debut of Belarusian athletes at the Olympics dates back to 1952. Then the athletes performed under the flag of the USSR national team.
At the same time, one of our countrymen participated in the main starts of the fourth anniversary back in 1928, however, as part of the Polish team. Nikolai Dranko, a native of Brest, took an honorable fifth place in one of the track disciplines in the Olympic Amsterdam.
Belarusian cyclists successfully competed in individual and team sports at all-Union competitions, and also won victories for the country as part of the USSR national team.
Viktor Bykov, Nikolai Dmitruk, Vladimir Glebov, Valentina Sakhonchik, Vitaly Nazarenko, Dmitry Pankov, Nikolai Shimanovich, Zinaida Alshevskaya, Alla Getsman wrote their names in the history of Soviet cycling
At the Montreal Games, Vladimir Kaminsky brought his native republic the first Olympic cycling gold, and in 1977, in Venezuela, he won the world gold.
In 1982, Honored Master of Sports, Olympic champion Valery Movchan played for our republic.
In 1980-90, Igor Sumnikov and Viktor Klimov, as well as Igor Pastukhovich and Igor Novikov, shone at the championships and draws of the USSR Cup in the team race and pair races.
The Belarusian national team made its international debut in 1993 at the World Championship in Norway.
In the late 90s, the Belarusian youth made themselves known. Viktor Repinsky became the world champion in the junior group race on the track. The last track cycling planetary forum of the century and the millennium opened the era of Natalia Tsilinskaya, who during her brilliant career won eight gold medals at the World Championships, a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Athens and won 27 World Cup victories.
In 2002, Belarusian Zinaida Stagurskaya had no equal at the super-world championships Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Konstantin Sivtsov became one of the main characters of 2004. At the road planetary championship in Verona, Italy, a Homel resident won gold in the Ander group race.
In 2006, one of the most striking pages in the history of Belarusian cycling was written by Vasily Kiriyenko, who won gold in scratch and bronze in the group points race at the World Cup on the track in Sydney.
In 2008, a landmark event in the history of Belarusian cycling took place – the modern Minsk Arena velodrome was put into operation, meeting the highest international standards. In 2009, the European Track Cycling Championship was held at a high level in the capital of the Republic of Belarus, and in 2013 Minsk hosted the most prestigious track cycling competition – the World Championship.
New stars continued to light up in Belarus. Tatyana Sharakova, who became world champion (2011) and European champion (2012), shone on the track. Alexander Lisovsky, who won the world track championship (2008), and Anton Muzychkin, who won gold at the Junior World Championship (2012) and the European Youth Championship (2013), wrote their names in history.
Every year, Alyona Omelusik feels more confident in the elite of the professional peloton, who won the bronze medal in the team race for Belarus at the 2014 World Championships as part of the Astana Bi Pink team.
In September 2013, the Minsk Cycling Club was established, which became the first professional cycling club in the Republic of Belarus registered with the International Cycling Union.
The idea of creating the first professional cycling club in Belarus belonged to the Belarusian Cycling Federation. For several years, an initiative group represented by the head of the federation Nikolai Ladutko, executive director Alexei Ivanov and sports director Natalia Tsilinskaya has been working on this unique project for the republic.
It turned out to be easy to find like-minded people in a country with a glorious tradition in cycling and actively promoting a healthy lifestyle, and in September 2013 it was announced the creation of MINSK Cycling Club LLC. Its founders included the Minsk City Center of the Olympic Reserve for Cycling Sports, the Motovelo Open Joint Stock Company and the Minsk Arena multidisciplinary cultural and sports complex (10% of the authorized capital).
The MINSK Cycling Club relies on Belarusian riders, as among its main tasks is the revival of the glorious traditions of Belarusian cycling, as well as the creation of additional conditions for the successful performance of the riders of the national cycling team and their winning medals at the European, world and Olympic Championships.
In providing Minsk riders with bicycles, the emphasis is on the products of the legendary Belarusian bicycle brand AIST, which acts as a technical sponsor of the club.
The sports activity of the MINSK cycling club is the main direction, however, at the same time, the club has other equally important goals, such as the promotion of the Republic of Belarus and its capital Minsk in the international arena, the development of cycling in the Republic of Belarus as one of the components of a healthy lifestyle, as part of the implementation of the ideology of “Belarus – a sports country!”, the development of inbound tourism in the Republic of Belarus, the attraction of international competitions in various sports to the country.
In recent years, cycling infrastructure has been actively developing in the country: bicycle paths, MTB and BMX trails are being designed and built, which will undoubtedly increase the number of people engaged in cycling and using bicycles as a means of transportation and outdoor activities.
Public Association “Belarusian Cycling Federation”
Address: Republic of Belarus, 220007, Minsk, 26 Levkova str., office 5
Tel.: +375 (17) 339-89-92
Website: http://www.cycling.by/
E-mail: info@cycling.by
Chairman: Tsilinskaya Natalia Valeryevna
Public Association “Minsk Cycling Federation”
Address: 111 Pobediteley Ave., Minsk, 220020, Republic of Belarus.329
Tel.: +375 (17) 250-59-55 Tel./f.: +375 (17) 250-70-25
E-mail: veloshkola@yandex.ru
Chairman: Boris Anatolyevich Vasiliev
Minsk Bicycle Club Limited Liability Company
Address: Republic of Belarus, 2200007, Minsk, Levkova str. 26
Tel.: +375 (17) 399-92-83
E-mail: info@minskcyclingclub.com
General Director: Alexey Vladimirovich Ivanov
Specialized educational and sports institutions that develop cycling in Minsk.
Establishment of the Republican Olympic Cycling Training Center
Address: 111 Pobediteley Ave., Minsk, 220020, Republic of Belarus
Tel.: +375 (17) 270-08-65
Website: www.cyclingrcop.by
E-mail: info@cyclingrcop.by
Director: Dmitry Leonidovich Tolkachev
The institution “Integrated specialized children’s and Youth school of the Olympic Reserve”
Address: 2 Surganova str., Minsk, 220004, Republic of Belarus
Tel./f.: +375 (17) 296-63-12
Director: Nikolay Nikolaevich Popok
The institution “Minsk Sports School-2 BFSO “Dynamo”
Address: Republic of Belarus, 220002, Minsk, Dauman str., 23
Tel./f.: +375 (17) 334-58-04
Director: Degtyarev Vladislav Georgievich
Educational institution ”Minsk State City School of Olympic Reserve“
Address: 42 Sedykh str., Minsk, 220103, Republic of Belarus
Tel./f.: +375 (17) 253-41-33
Director: Firago Dmitry Fedorovich
State Institution “Minsk City Olympic Reserve Cycling Center”
Address: 111 Pobediteley Ave., Minsk, 220020, Republic of Belarus.327
Tel.: +375 (17) 369-55-95
E-mail: veloshkola@yandex.ru
Director: Tatyana Nikolaevna Shpakovskaya
Адреса велобаз:
- Golodeda passage, 7, building 2, Tel.:+375 (17) 340-54-31 – track, highway
- 7 Sedova str., Tel.: +375 (17) 273-52-89 – ВМХ
- 29 Gamarnik str., Tel.: +375 (17) 281-29-21 – track, highway
- 111 Pobediteley Ave., Tel.: +375 (17) 250-70-25 – track, highway
- 86a Kabushkina str., Tel.: +375 (17) 296-94-38 – ВМХ