The SkodaTour LuXembourg – a race rich in history

The Tour of Luxembourg was created in 1935. From its creation until the early 1980s, the event was mainly dominated by Luxembourgers, Belgians, French and Dutchmen such as Charly Gaul, Marcel Ernzer, Louison Bobet or Freddy Maertens. It was only at the beginning of the 1980’s that the event became international with Russian, Swiss and Danish victories.

Since then, up to the present day big names have imposed themselves on Luxembourg roads, such as Bernard Hinault, Franck Vandenbroucke, Thomas Voeckler, Christian Vande Velde, Fränk Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Greg Van Avermaet or Joao Almeida. In 2005, the Tour de Luxembourg became SkodaTour de Luxembourg and the Czech car brand has been a partner of the event ever since.

2020 was the year in which the SkodaTour LuXembourg leveled up a category and entered the ProSeries division (second division of world cycling).

Luxembourg remains the country with the most general victories (21 victories) ahead of Belgium (17 victories) and the Netherlands (11 victories). The Luxembourgish Mathias Clemens is the most successful rider with 5 victories in the general classification. 

Note that the first two editions were contested by independents. The 1945 edition was also open to amateurs. The 1981 and 1982 editions were run in open category (Amateurs and Professionals).

Andy Schleck, president since 2017

In 2017, former professional cyclist Andy Schleck has taken over from Frank Zeimet as president and together with his renewed team, he has worked towards a greater international scope for the SkodaTour LuXembourg.

Since then, several exciting changes have been made to the race. The traditional prologue in Luxembourg-City has been dropped and new stage finishes have been defined. In 2021, a longer individual time trial has been introduced in Dudelange. It has been maintained for this year’s edition and will take place during the penultimate stage between Remich and Schengen.

A large variety of different routes, on which it is difficult to predict the outcome of the race, has made the SkodaTour LuXembourg more attractive in the last years. As a result, new partners have been found.

In addition to Baloise (yellow jersey – general classification), Creos (white jersey – best young rider), the Loterie Nationale (blue jersey – points classification), a new sponsor for the red and white jersey of the best climber has been found this year: FitLine, a premium nutritional supplement brand.