Our man Ryszard Szurkowski

There is probably no person who does not know who Ryszard Szurkowski was. Born on 12 January 1946 in the small village of Świebodow, in the municipality of Krosnice, in the district of Milicz, the boy became a road cycling icon and world champion for many years.

Ryszard Jan Szurkowski was born on 12 January 1946 in Świebodów, a small village in the municipality of Krośnice, in the district of Milicz. In Świebodów he attended primary school. He then attended schools in Milicz. As a young man, he took his first job at the Polish Post Office and was a well-known postman in the area, delivering the mail by bicycle, of course.

Ryszard Szurkowski as a small boy and his first bicycle, photo: family archive

He graduated from high school and the Academy of Sport in Wrocław. Nevertheless, as a cyclist he was self-taught and an unpolished diamond. He competed in cycling competitions from 1963, initially as an unattached amateur. He started his career in Radom, under the guidance of the Radomiak Radom cyclists' coach, Ryszard Swat, on tracks near Garbatka-Letnisko, where he did his basic military service. After his military service, with the encouragement of his older brother Czesław, he decided to continue his career, heading for the KS "Dolmel" Wrocław club.

His first successes were the Polish championship in cross-country cycling in Prudnik, vice-championship of Poland in a mountain race and 4th place in the Polish championship in a mass start race in 1968.

He won first place in the Peace Race four times (in 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1975). In total, he rode 89 stages in this competition (52 of them in the leader's jersey), won 13 stages, and was second nine times and third nine times.

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich (together with Edward Barcik, Lucjan Lis and Stanisław Szozda) and the Games in Montreal four years later (together with Tadeusz Mytnik, Mieczysław Nowicki and Stanisław Szozda), he won silver medals in the team time trial. The Polish team then lost the gold medal twice to the USSR team.

In 1973, he won the gold medal at the world championships in Barcelona in the amateur mass start race and the team time trial (together with Tadeusz Mytnik, Lucjan Lis and Stanislaw Szozda).

Ryszard Szurkowski at the top of his career, photo by Jan Rozmarynowski /Forum

In 1980 he ended his national team career, and two years later, as a player with KS "Polonez" Warsaw, he ended his club career. He made his last appearance as a competitor in October 1984, in a race for the Navy, after which he finally ended his career. He was a player of the following clubs: LZS Milicz (1966), Radomiak Radom (1966-1967, for the duration of his military service), KS "Dolmel" Wrocław (1968-1978), FSO Warsaw (1979) and KS "Polonez" Warsaw (1979-1982).

He then took up a coaching career, was president of PZKol, a politician and a businessman. He was always happy to return to Świebodów, where his sister still lives today. He had many friends and supporters here, who adored him for his good heart and pride in his rural origins.

Ryszard Szurkowski during the Traces of Ryszard Szurkowski bicycle rally in Krośnice, photo: Łukasz Gościniak

In 2010 the Municipality of Krosnice for the first time organised a cycling rally in the footsteps of Ryszard Szurkowski, which to this day is always held on the last Saturday of April and the first Saturday of September. As long as he was alive and in good shape, Ryszard Szurkowski participated in every rally and infected many people with his love for two wheels.

Until the end of his life, he sat in various cycling races for pensioners. In one of these, in Cologne, Germany, he suffered a serious accident, as a result of which, after a long period of suffering, he passed away on 1 February 2021. He was buried in a family grave in the parish cemetery in Wierzchowice. His wake was attended by crowds of colleagues, supporters and fans. Today, a visit to his grave and paying tribute is an obligatory point of cycling trips in Krosnice. His memory is eternal.

In 2022, on the initiative of the inhabitants of Swiebodow, a square in memory of Richard was created. This place attracts cyclists who like to take photos against the obelisk with the Master's bike in the background.