Lech Piasecki (born 13 November 1961) is a Polish former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

. Born in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, he became the first Polish cyclist to wear the yellow jersey in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

, in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. After Piasecki became Amateur world champion in 1985, the Colnago team wanted to sign him. The Polish cycling organisation allowed that in exchange for bicycles. His first victory as a professional cyclist was in a time trial in the

1986 Giro d'Italia The 1986 Giro d'Italia was the 69th running of the Giro d'Italia. The race started in Palermo, on 12 May, with a prologue and concluded in Merano, on 2 June, with a mass-start stage. A total of 171 riders from nineteen teams entered the 2 ...

, where he beat many favourites. In 1987, he won the first stage of the Tirreno–Adriatico. It was a time trial in which he started early, and the wind changed direction after Piasecki finished, so the main favourites who started later had a disadvantage. In the

1987 Tour de France The 1987 Tour de France was the 74th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 26 July. It consisted of 25 stages over . It was the closest three-way finish in the Tour until the 2007 Tour de France, among the closest overall races i ...

, Piasecki became second in the prologue, and took the yellow jersey after finishing in the lead group of Stage 2. After he lost the lead on Stage 4, he had to abandon in the 7th stage due to an illness. On August 24, 1988 he became World Track Champion in individual pursuit. The following year Piasecki put forth a remarkable performance during the 1989 Giro d'Italia by winning three stages including two ITT stages, as well as a high mountain stage.

Career achievements

;1982 :1st Stage 7a,

Milk Race The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

;1983 : 6th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

::1st Stage 6 ;1984 :3rd

Polish National Road Race Championships The Polish National Road Race Championships are held annually to decide the Polish cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. P ...

;1985 :1st

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

, Amateurs :1st Overall

Peace Race The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...

::1st Stages 1, 7, 8 & 11 ;1986 :1st Tour de Romagna :1st Florence-Pistoia :1st Stage 12 ( ITT) Giro d'Italia :1st Stage 3, Tour de l'Aude :1st

Trofeo Baracchi The Trofeo Baracchi was a major Italian cycling race that ran for 50 years. It was created by Mino Baracchi, in memory of his father Angelo who was a great cycle racing fan. Originally (from 1941) an amateur individual time trial, from 1944 it w ...

(with

Giuseppe Saronni Giuseppe Saronni (born 22 September 1957), also known as Beppe Saronni, is an Italian former racing cyclist. He had remarkable success riding in the Giro d'Italia. In 1980 he won 7 stages and finished 7th overall, in 1981 he won 3 stages and fin ...

) ;1987 :1st Stage 1

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

;1988 :1st Stage 21b (ITT) Giro d'Italia :1st Trofeo Baracchi (with

Czesław Lang Czesław Lang (born 17 May 1955 in Kołczygłowy) is a Polish former road racing cyclist. He was a bronze medalist at the 1977 UCI Road World Championships in San Cristóbal and a silver medalist at the 1979 UCI Road World Championships in ...

) ;1989 :1st Tour de Friuli :1st Stage 7

: Giro d'Italia ::1st Stages 10 (ITT), 15b & 22 (ITT) ;1990 :1st Florence-Pistoia

Tour de France

- did not finish. Wore

yellow jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

for 2 consecutive days, the first and so far only Polish cyclist to do so.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piasecki, Lech 1961 births Living people Polish male cyclists Sportspeople from Poznań UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Polish track cyclists