This weekend, the 43rd edition of Marathon Franja BTC City, which took place from 7 to 9 June, was successfully concluded. The event, organised by the KD Rog Cycling Club in cooperation with the BTC Company, the City Municipality of Ljubljana and other partners, once again enthused cycling fans of all generations. This year, more than 6,000 participants from 35 countries took part in Marathon Franja BTC City, which only confirms the popularity of this cycling festival.
The marathon, which started this year for the first time in five years with the Ljubljana–Domžale–Ljubljana Union Radler Isotonic 0.0 Time Trial, attracted thousands of participants from different countries. The first, 21.2-kilometre stage marked the start of a three-day cycling event.
On Saturday, 8 June, cyclists set off on three different routes. The 77-kilometre Barjanka Hervis route, which started at the Kongresni trg square in Ljubljana, the 25-kilometre Medex Family and School Marathon and the Vzajemko’s Kids Cycling Challenge, which started in BTC City Ljubljana, offered opportunities for cyclists of all generations and different cycling skills.
Sunday, 9 June, was reserved for the two longest races. The 154-kilometre Big Marathon Franja BTC City and the 97-kilometre Triglav Little Marathon Franja BTC City took participants through beautiful landscapes, with all routes starting and finishing in BTC City Ljubljana.
Once again, the event was part of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series, attracting many international riders to try to qualify for the Amateur Road World Championships.
Marathon Franja BTC City, which has been organised regularly since 1982, once again brought together cyclists from more than 35 countries. In total, over 166,000 officially registered participants from more than 70 countries have cycled the Franja routes over the past 43 years, confirming the international importance and the popularity of this event. On this occasion, the organisers presented the overall winners of the individual races with special medals engraved with the caricature of Tone Fornezzi – TOF, marking his milestone and his contribution to the co-creation of the unique Marathon Franja. In addition to its competitive note, Marathon Franja also had a charitable one. A part of each entry fee was donated to the Preprosto blizu Foundation of Radio 1 and their great socially responsible campaign Deželak junak.
Marathon Franja BTC City continues to promote recreational sport among all generations. The organisers would like to thank all the participants, the partners and the supporters and are looking forward to the year ahead, as they will once again bring together all friends of cycling.
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