Slovenian Matej Marin wins Sarajevo Grand Prix 2014

The first Sarajevo Grand Prix cycling race has concluded. The winner of the race is Slovenian Matej Marin, who competed for an Austrian cycling club. He shared his first impressions of the race immediately after the race.

- The climb was quite interesting. This race had eminent guests, and I can only speak in superlatives. If I have the opportunity, I will come again - said Marin.

The first cyclists arrived at BiH Square. Around 140 competitors from several countries completed the 128-kilometer route. This race will be recognized as the Balkan Championship. Cyclists completed five laps from Sarajevo City Center to Vijećnica. This distance is about 5 km.

SGP 2014 was organized with the support of the Tour de France and its director Christian Prudhomme. The French Embassy is also one of the sponsors, along with Ambassador Roland Gilles. Former champions of the most famous cycling race, the Tour de France, also came to Sarajevo.

- I am happy today that this event was successful. There were many young people from all over the country, and that is a success. The message of the event is to live together - Gilles told the media.

The race started this morning at 11:00 AM from Istočno Sarajevo, and cyclists passed through 14 municipalities. Several thousand recreational cyclists participated in the race, but their finish line was at Vilsonovo Promenade. A suitable program with entertainment was prepared for them.

Incidentally, SGP 2014 is part of the project "Sarajevo - Heart of Europe" to mark the centenary of the start of World War I, NAP reports.

The SGP 2014 award was given to Hajrudin Trle, a man who has been actively involved in cycling for 44 years and has won numerous awards.

Out of 5,000 recreational participants, two received special bicycles as a gift from Mayor Milan Bandić. They are Bojan Milidrag and Ivana Mihajlović. Edin Taletović from Živinice received a Festina watch. Denijal Denić received a specially made handmade bicycle.

Mujo Kurtović is the fastest BiH participant in SGP 2014, and he has been actively cycling since 2006.