Three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – demonstrated their solidarity in their quest for independence by forming a human chain on August 23, 1989. Approximately 2 million people joined their hands that day. The extraordinary event drew global attention and finally led to the Baltic States regaining their independence. The human chain spanning over 600 kilometers was registered in The Guinness Book of Records.

The joint Baltic cycling tour has a long history. The tradition began in the 1955 and was broken in 1987. On November 4, 2010 in Riga, the presidents of three national cycling unions signed a cooperation agreement to restore the tradition of the Baltic cycling tour.

From August 2011, Baltic Chain Tour marks the anniversary of the Baltic Chain. It is also one of the longest annual cycling tours in the Northern Europe. Baltic Chain Tour belongs to UCI 2.2 category cycling tours.