The Tour of Bulgaria is an annual international professional

bicycle race "Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song "Fat Bottomed Girls", rea ...

held in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

that was first staged on 21 August 1924. It is part of

UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

and is category 2.2. The race covers about 1,500 kilometres and lasts two weeks. As of 2017, 66 editions were held. The longest length of the race was in 1949 – 1905 km. The course changes every year, but the race has always started in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. In the race, cyclists from more than 40 countries have been competing. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, the Tour of Bulgaria was one of the most prestigious cycling races in Europe, drawing skilled cyclists from the countries that traditionally produce strong racers, such as Italy, France and Netherlands. Although after the changes in 1989 the race lost some of its prestige for the cyclists in the peloton, nowadays it becomes more and more attractive for them. For example, in 2010

Francisco Mancebo Francisco Mancebo Pérez (born 9 March 1976) is a Spanish professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . He initially rode for team , but moved to in 2006. Mancebo is a stage race specialist, with good climbing and indiv ...

who finished second in the

2004 Vuelta a España The 59th edition of the ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance Bicycle racing, bicycle Stage (bicycle race), stage race and one of the three Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours, was held from 4 September to 26 September 2004. It consi ...

and fourth in the

2005 Tour de France The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance . It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong origin ...

, competed in it but only succeeded to finish third after the Bulgarian Krasimir Vasilev and

Ricardo Mestre Ricardo Jorge Mestre Correia (born 11 September 1983) is a Portuguese professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI Continental team . On 4 October 2022, he received a three-year ban by UCI for doping. Major results ;2006 : Volta a ...

. In 2017, the race was split into two three-day races based on geographical location.

Winners

Tour of Bulgaria

References

Diary of Union of Bulgarian cycling, 2007

External links

{{Commons category, Tour of Bulgaria
Facebook page of International Tour of BulgariaWebsite for the Tour of Bulgaria
Cycle races in Bulgaria UCI Europe Tour races Recurring sporting events established in 1924 1924 establishments in Bulgaria