Sarajevo Bike Race Marks WWI Centenary

Around 150 cyclists competed in the Sarajevo International Race for Peace on Sunday, riding a 140-kilometre route around through the centre and the suburbs of the Bosnian capital with the goal of promoting peace on the anniversary of the outbreak  of the Great War.

In the week after the race, Sarajevo will be marking the start of the war 100 years ago when Gavrilo Princip murdered the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie - the key event that triggered WWI.

The race was backed by the Tour de France and was accompanied by a fun tournament for non-sportspeople.

“I am proud that Sarajevo and East Sarajevo hosted this premium sports event, the Sarajevo Grand Prix bicycle race held under supervision of the famous Tour de France,” said Sarajevo Mayor Ivo Komsic.

“I believe this international race will become a tradition,” he added.

Slovenian Matej Marin won the race, with Italian Christian Delle Stelle coming in second. 

Many other events to mark the centenary of the 1914 assassination are planned in Sarajevo, with the central event to be a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic on June 28 in the newly-reopened City Hall, the Vijecnica.

However, the authorities in Bosnia’s Serb-led entity Republiks Srpska plan to mark the centenary separately.

To many Serbs, Princip was a hero whose memory is to be celebrated. Many Croats, on the other hand, recall Princip as a terrorist and do not rejoice in the destruction of Austria-Hungary, which was a direct consequence of the war.

Continue reading on: