Although the summer is almost over, Sarajevo will today enjoy another outdoor party – the largest cycling tour in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Giro di Sarajevo 2016. A river of cyclists will fill the main streets of Sarajevo. As in previous years, they will fight for the rights of themselves and all the citizens of Sarajevo.
“We have been saying the same thing for years: if you let cyclists travel around the town on their bikes or rented ones, everyone will benefit. The reason is very simple – less cars and more bikes on the streets means cleaner air, less trafiic jams, better health and environmental protection,” said Emir Hulusić, one of the leaders of Giro di Sarajevo association and a state champion in time trial ride, one of the specific cycling disciplines.
Hulusić invites all cyclists of Sarajevo and other places to join the ride and make the party greater, while showing the authorities how many active cyclists there are in Sarajevo.
“Every year we want the same – treatment of cyclists as active and equal participants in traffic and conditions for cycling. When we started this nine years ago, we did not have a single adequate track. Now, all city municipalities automatically think about making cycling tracks when they do some urban projects. That is the direct influence of projects such as Giro di Sarajevo,” Hulusić said.
Apart from organizing specific cycling events aimed at promoting cycling, lobbying with the authorities for the rights of cyclists, and performing at competitions, Giro di Sarajevo also deals with some very concrete urban projects which resulted in the construction of six cycling parkings in Sarajevo, all of which meet professional, global standards.
Today’s Giro di Sarajevo begins at 5 pm in front of the elementary school Skender Kulenović in Dobrinja. The race goes to the City Hall and back to the Wilson’s Promenade. Registration is on the spot, starting from 3 pm, and all participants will receive gifts from sponsors Dukat, Konzum and Škoda. The luckiest ones will have an opportunity to win bikes and helmets, gifts by the general sponsor Coca Cola.
Special partner of the event is Nextbike, who provided free rent of all their bikes to registered users from 6 am until midnight.
(Source: klix.ba)
