More than 400 of the strongest cyclists in Europe are expected at the first European Mountain Bike Championship in Romania

More than 400 of the strongest cyclists in Europe are expected at the first European Mountain Bike Championship organized in Romania, at Cheile Grădiştei, between May 8-12, reports News.ro.

Athletes from over 17 countries will compete at the European Mountain Bike Championship in the Cross Country Olympic (XCO), Cross Country Team Relay (XCR) and Cross Country Short Track (XCC) disciplines for the Elite, U23 and Junior categories.

So far, almost 200 riders from 17 countries, including France, Holland, Belgium and Denmark, have confirmed their participation, but their number is expected to increase to 400 athletes and 200 technicians by the time registration closes.

The more than 10,000 spectators who are expected at Cheile Grădiştei during the five days of the competition will have the opportunity to see athletes such as the French Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, multiple world champion in several disciplines in Mountain Bike, the Dutch Puck Pieterse, winner of the World Cup at MTB in 2023, both in XCO and XCC, or the French Joshua Dubau (winner of several world cup stages in XCO and XCC) and Victor Koretzky, multiple world champion in Team Relay.

Romania will be represented, among others, by Vlad Dascălu, who will try to defend his European XCO champion title, by Ede Molnar, European Eliminator champion and recent winner of the first stage of the Eliminator world cup, and by Wendy Bunea, a juniors who are already asserting themselves in European competitions.

According to the Romanian Cycling Federation, the costs of organizing the event amount to more than 350,000 euros, an amount that covers actual costs of organization, the accreditation process, timing, as well as the live broadcast of the event via Eurosport and the Eurosport App – to a number of over 8 million potential viewers.

“The stakes are high both for cycling and Romanian sports in general, as well as for the image of the country in the world, but also for tourism. From a sporting point of view, we have the chance to inspire, motivate the new generation of riders and defend the European Champion title won by Vlad Dascălu last year. On the other hand, Romania will be talked about, and the beautiful images from here will be seen all over the world, which will mean a good marketing of the country and an opportunity to attract the curiosity of tourists to visit our places. Romania has a colossal potential for practicing outdoor sports, especially mountain biking, and the European Championship will send this message directly to the public”, said the president of the Romanian Cycling Federation, Cătălin Sprinceană.

The route on which the competitions will take place, 3.4 km long, was made with the support of the Cheile Grădiştei Fundata resort, a unique destination, equipped with many facilities dedicated to sports, including a biathlon arena. Teams between 4 and 10 people worked 20 days on the route, starting in November 2023, to prepare it for the competition. The work was done both mechanized, with specialists and specialized equipment such as excavators or chainsaws, as well as manually, with picks, shovels, rakes. In addition to clearing and setting up the route with stones and logs, the intervention teams also cleaned the area near the route, to allow the public to see what is happening in the hot spots.

“This route will represent Romania’s entry ticket into the arena of European players on the cycling competition market and we hope to bring a World Cup Stage to the Cheile Grădiştei route in the future and/or a European Youth Championship, maybe even in 2027 We also set out to quickly bring the European Mountain Bike Marathon Championship to the country, the most popular and practiced cycling discipline in our country”, added Sprinceana.

In preparation for the European MTB Championships, a test event will be organized on the route from Cheile Grădiştei Fundata, on the weekend of April 27-28, which is also the first stage of the Romanian XCO Cup, in which a record number of cyclists are expected to participate licensed.

Cycling, especially MTB, has enjoyed a steady growth in Romania in the last 20 years, with an explosion of mass events in the last 6-7 years. This year, the Cycling Federation’s calendar counts a record number of over 80 events, and the number of licensed cyclists has exceeded 1,000.