In February BTC Company, as the general sponsor, again decided to support the renowned and well-known Franja Marathon for the next 4 years. The evidence for the Marathon’s renown and success can also be seen in the latest achievement of the sporting-recreational event in Slovenia, since the BTC City Franja Marathon – Museeuw Classic was accepted to the elite group of marathons named UCI World Cycling Tour (UWCT). The participants at this year’s Franja Marathon will also be able to compete for the position on the UCI World Cyclist Tour.

BTC Company will continue with the traditional Franja Marathon activities as the general sponsor in the following 4 years. This is already the ninth year of BTC actively supporting the Franja Marathon, which is the largest sporting-recreational event in Slovenia. The company is very proud of their sponsorship endeavours to make recreational cycling in Slovenia widely spread, which is reflected by a growing number of the Marathon participants and also by more and more recreational cyclists in Slovenia.

The Franja Marathon became a renowned and successful sporting-recreational event organized by the cycling association Kolesarsko društvo Rog and the SI Sport d.o.o. Company. Its renown reached another level beyond Slovenian borders when the BTC City Franja Marathon – Museeuw Classic was recently recognized and accepted to the elite group of cycling marathons named UCI World Cycling Tour, which is a great acknowledgement for the event organisers, sponsors and Slovenia as well.

Jože Mermal, the president of the BTC Management Board, said that he was proud of the long-time of cooperation and that the company was pleased to had attracted attention of an international cycling union like UCI. He also emphasized that their cooperation proved that the Slovenian recreational cycling was making progress in the right direction which was a further encouragement for the activities that promote active sport participation of the Slovene recreational cyclists.

Under the leadership of two Slovenian cycling enthusiasts, Tone Fornezzi and Zvone Zanoškar, the first cycling marathon took place in 1982 and was attended by seven hundred cyclists. Through the years the marathon evolved, with its start and finishing lines being located in BTC City from 2003 onwards. Since 2005 cyclists can compete in four different categories:

• BTC City Franja Marathon – Museeuw Classic (156 km)
• Little Franja Marathon (97 km)
• Polet Magazine Family and School Marathon for everyone (25 km)
• BTC City Children’s Trial (1500 m).

The UCI World Cycling Tour is organised each year by the international cyclist union UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) for recreational cyclists from all over the world. The trial consists of several qualifying events starting at a local level and leading to the UWCT finals. The winner of the trial is awarded the title “World Cycling Champion”, a gold medal and a rainbow jersey for one year. The participants can compete in various cycling events, organised in different categories – men and women.

Additional information:

Maja Oven, Director of the Market Communication and Public Relations Sector

• T: +386(0)1/585 13 15
• E: maja.oven@btc.si