2024-08-14 18:15:38
Four of our teams will participate in the cycling tour of Bulgaria. These are “Hemus 1896” (Troyan), the metropolitan “Levski” and “Vitosha” and a regional team from Plovdiv. For the time being, there will be no national team.
“We decided this way because only club teams drive in the big tours, and we don’t want to harm anyone if we take the best in the national one,” commented Evgeni Balev. The winner of our tour in 2007 was recently elected chairman of the Bulgarian Cycling Union.
This year marks a century since the first tour, which started on August 21, 1924. The start of the 71st edition is with a prologue around the St. Alexander Nevsky temple-monument in Sofia on the 24th of this month. Then the stages are Sofia – Troyan (with a climb to Beklemeto), Troyan – Kazanlak (via Shipka), Kazanlak – Burgas, Primorsko – Sliven and Sliven – Gabrovo.
The tour is again in category 2.2 of the calendar of the International Cycling Union and carries points for the world ranking. At the moment, the list includes foreign teams from Europe, the USA and Japan. The French “Martig”, led by the three-time winner of the tour Hristo Zaikov, will also participate. Martin Marinov and Ventsislav Venkov drive in this club.
Once again, the general sponsor is DZI, and from this year the Ministry of Tourism is also among the official partners.
“Our goal is to turn Bulgaria into a year-round tourist destination and we think that the tour will help us because it will pass through many of the most beautiful places in our country,” commented Irena Georgieva, Deputy Minister of Tourism.