06.03.2014.

Announcement of the International Cycling Race "Tour of Serbia 2014"

In the Central Military Club of the Serbian Armed Forces, today, the first in a series of media conferences on the occasion of the upcoming 54th International Cycling Race "Tour of Serbia 2014" has been held.

The slogan of the race, which is to be held from 17 to 22 June under the auspices of Tomislav Nikolic, the President of Serbia, will be "Along the Paths of Freedom of our Ancestors", and it is dedicated to the celebration of two jubilees – the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War and 75 years since the founding of the race.

The conference was preceded by the constitutive session of the Organizing Committee of the event chaired by Defence Minister Nebojsa Rodic.

Addressing the gathering on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Vladimir Bozovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior announced that this year's race, because of the jubilee to which it is dedicated, will additionally attract attention of the domestic and international public.

- We will endeavour as Organizing Committee, but also as the Serbian Government and the cities through which the race passes, to do our best in order that today’s Serbia be represented in the best possible way, sending a message of a politically and legally stable and democratic Serbia that is worthy of those ancestors for whose fame and honour this race is held – State Secretary Bozovic pointed out, emphasizing that the Serbian Ministry of the Interior will do everything to raise the safety of the race at the highest level.

According to Ljubomir Stojanovic, Director of the Race, it is a special honour to have this year Ministers Rodic as the Chair of the Organizing Committee, noting that cycling is specific sport that takes place outside the halls, on public roads, and without the assistance of the state institutions it would never have so high level of security and regularity of the competition.

The Race starts in Pozarevac and ends in Belgrade, on Mountain Avala, at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, and the host cities are also Krusevac, Priboj, Pale in the Republic of Serbska and Ruma. The race will last six days, in six stages, with participation of cyclists from twenty countries. The total length of the track is 850 kilometers and the longest stage is from Krusevac to Priboj and is 190 kilometers long.The Cycling Race through Serbia was founded on 5th March 1939, and its maintenance was interrupted by the Second World War. It was renewed in 1969, and it has been continuously organized since then.