Cycling through Armenia: the Tour of Armenia begins on 10 September

For ten years, whenever May came round – he even went there in 1963 after his stay in Bulgaria – Viktor Kapitonov would pack jumpers, T-shirts and cycling shoes into a bag, load his bicycle onto the train in Moscow and get off at Yerevan, where he would stay for a couple of days to rest from the journey before moving on to Martuni. Kapitonov maintained that “there is no better country in the world – or at least in the communist world – than Armenia for cycling training. If there were a major stage race here, it would be the toughest and most spectacular stage race in the world. Its absence is an unforgivable mistake”, again, in the communist world.

When he saw him racing in the Corsa della Pace – a short stage race reserved for amateurs, one of the few in which cyclists from both sides of the Iron Curtain competed – in 1958, the then manager of the Italian national team, Alfredo Binda, said: “If the world weren’t divided in two, this lad would be sweeping up the major races.” Two years later, he won the gold medal in the road race at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

That unforgivable error will finally be corrected. From 10 to 13 September, the first edition of the Tour of Armenia will take place, a 2.2-category race included in the European calendar and organised by the Armenian government and cycling federation with technical advice and expertise from Rcs Sports and Events DMCC. It will start in Gavar and finish in Yerevan after four stages, covering 568 kilometres and more than 5,000 metres of elevation gain.

To tell the truth, this is not the first time a stage race has been held in Armenia. In 1964, thanks to the enthusiasm and persistence of Viktor Kapitanov and the advice of Rodislav Tchizikov, the first great champion of Soviet cycling, ‘a three-day cycling event featuring the best riders in Soviet cycling’ was organised. Even the Moskovskaya Pravda reported on it. “In the large square in front of the socialist town hall in Yerevan, beneath the snow-capped peaks of majestic mountains, before the eyes of thousands upon thousands of comrades, Comrade Viktor Kapitanov triumphed once again in the final stage of the Armenian cycling exhibition and won the Tour of Armenia, finishing seven minutes ahead of Antas Vjaravas – winner of the Tour of the USSR a year ago – and local hero Hrant Azaryan”, wrote the Moscow-based newspaper.

However, that was precisely an exhibition race, the pilot event for what could have been one of the most interesting and gruelling socialist races. Viktor Kapitanov withdrew, and Rodislav Tchizikov did not see fit to press the Soviet Federation to organise another stage race in a remote part of the Federation.

More than sixty years on, the Tour of Armenia is bringing cycling back to Armenia. This time, the aim is to ensure it stays. The number of bicycles in the country has soared in recent years, and in Yerevan and the surrounding area, cycle tourists have become a regular sight.

There will be two ProTeams: Bardiani CSF 7 Saber and Solutizion Tech Nippo Rali. There will be twelve Continental teams (including the development squads of INEOS and Lidl Trek).