1981 World Championships, Official Race Poster, Winner – Freddy Maertens

1981 World Cycling Championships – Czechoslovakia Official Race Poster

Race Winner – Freddy Maertens

This striking poster was created for the 1981 World Cycling Championships in Czechoslovakia, a rare year when the country hosted both the road worlds in Prague and the track worlds in Brno. The design is a masterclass in late modernist graphics: a rider reduced to concentric arcs that shift from deep red through orange and yellow to white, all set against a dark green field. Two pale circles suggest the wheels, while a smaller blue disc balances the composition; the image reads instantly as a cyclist in motion.

At the bottom, the typography angles upward with “1981 World Cycling Championships Czechoslovakia”, flanked by the UCI emblem and the crests of the Czechoslovak sports and cycling federations. A credit line in Czech along the lower edge identifies the designer as Karel Čapek and notes that the poster was issued by the Organising Committee of the 1981 World Championships and printed in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.

On the road circuit in Prague, Freddy Maertens of Belgium won the men’s professional road race over 281.4 km, ahead of Giuseppe Saronni and Bernard Hinault. The women’s road race was won by Ute Enzenauer of West Germany, with Jeannie Longo and Connie Carpenter taking silver and bronze. The amateur men’s road race went to Andrei Vedernikov of the Soviet Union, while the 100 km team time trial was won by East Germany.

A few days later at the Brno velodrome, the track worlds crowned more champions: in the men’s professional events, Danny Clark won the keirin, Kōichi Nakano took the sprint, Alain Bondue the individual pursuit, Urs Freuler the points race, and René Kos the motor paced title. On the women’s side, American Sheila Young won the sprint and Nadezhda Kibardina the individual pursuit.

For collectors, this poster sits at the intersection of cycling history and high graphic design. It captures an important championship year in Eastern Europe and showcases the bold, abstract visual language that defined many sporting posters from behind the Iron Curtain. The deep green background and vivid color gradients make it a standout in any collection.

This poster has been archivally and professionally linen-backed.

Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on fragile, thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve, and protect vintage posters, allowing them to be displayed or framed without compromising their value.

This poster is an original first printing, not a reproduction.

Year: 1981
Artist: Karel Čapek

Size: 57 x 83 cm ( 22 ½ x 32 ¾  inches)

Posters are sold unframed. Framed images are display ideas only.

This is a one-of-a-kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

This item is listed on multiple platforms, and availability is subject to prior sale elsewhere.