Pedals have been turned for a greener Bursa

Granfondo Bursa race, aiming to promote cycling and environmental awareness, took place in a festive atmosphere with the participation of over 700 athletes from 6 countries. Participants pedaled along the unique beauties of Bursa and Mudanya throughout the route.

Being one of the most prestigious cycling races, the Granfondo event in Bursa concluded with a large turnout. Organized under the auspices of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, in collaboration with Bursa Organized Industrial Zone (Bursa OSB) and Bursa Organized Industrial Zone Industrialists and Business People Association (BOSİAD), and with the organization of Idea Factory, Granfondo Bursa started in front of Bursa OSB Service Building with the participation of CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey, Mudanya Mayor Deniz Dalgıç, Bursa Youth and Sports Provincial Director Rahmi Aksoy, Bursa OSB Board Member Sühendam Urbay, BOSİAD President Rasim Çağan, BOSİAD Vice President Özgür Şahin, Bursa OSB Regional Manager Osman Yıldırım, MHK President Şükrü Aydın, and over 700 cycling enthusiasts.

With over 700 athletes from 6 different countries participating in the race in Bursa, including 40 women and 15 paralympic athletes, Granfondo Bursa offered participants an unforgettable experience with a total route length of 166 kilometers. The race, starting from Hasköy and passing through Çekrice, Dereköy, Mirzaoba, and Kaymakoba neighborhoods to the ancient town of Tirilye, continued from Tirilye to Mudanya. Ending at the Bursa OSB service building after passing through Göynüklü and Nilüferköy, this unique route provided athletes with the opportunity to discover the natural beauties of Bursa. Throughout the event, which aims to promote cycling and environmental awareness, participants pedaled amidst magnificent urban and rural landscapes, serving as a source of inspiration for sports enthusiasts and environmentalists. Granfondo Bursa will contribute to the adoption of cycling as an environmentally friendly means of transportation and the spread of green living awareness.

CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal, who participated in the race’s start, emphasized that living in a clean environment is a fundamental human right, stating that public authorities, politics, and the business world should collectively strive to increase this awareness.

Expressing great pleasure in hosting cycling enthusiasts in Bursa, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mustafa Bozbey stated, ‘Cycling is the most environmentally friendly means of transportation in the world. Therefore, we support this organization and wish for its continuity.’

Underlining the need to increase the number of such events, Mudanya Mayor Deniz Dalgıç said, ‘Turkey is a wonderful country with its climate and geography. We should develop all kinds of sports within this country. We need to be a country of athletes.’

Bursa OSB Board Member Sühendam Urbay expressed, ‘We are delighted to host the program. We congratulate all the athletes participating in the race and extend our thanks to all sponsors supporting this organization with our best wishes for success.’

BOSİAD President Rasim Çağan stated, ‘As Bursa OSB and BOSİAD, we attach great importance to a clean and livable environment. For this purpose, we are implementing significant projects to spread this concept to the entire city and country. Our goal is for Green Bursa to remain green, or even greener. This event aligns perfectly with our values. We strive to seize every opportunity that promotes a clean environment. People want to engage in sports in an environment where the air and water are clean. By supporting such events, we will encourage more questioning and demand for these opportunities among the public. As the first OIZ of Turkey, we wish for the Granfondo bicycle race, which is world-famous within the scope of our environmentally conscious projects and sustainability goals, to achieve its purpose.’

At the post-race ceremony, Bursa Deputy Governor Halil Serdar Cevheroğlu, Nilüfer Mayor Şadi Özdemir, Mudanya Mayor Deniz Dalgıç, Bursa Youth and Sports Provincial Director Rahmi Aksoy, Bursa OSB Board Member Sühendam Urbay, BOSİAD Vice President Özgür Şahin, and Bursa OSB Regional Manager Osman Yıldırım presented awards to the athletes.

Following the 98-kilometer long and 68-kilometer short stages filled with colorful scenes, athletes received their awards at the ceremony held at the main service building of Bursa OSB. The categories and winners were as follows;

‘Long Route Men General Classification: 1. Anton Hrabovski – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Gökhan Uzuntaş – Esra Aluminum and 3. Ege Onat Doğuşlu – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team). Short Route Men General Classification: 1. Yağız Atıcı – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Fehim Kadıoğlu – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team) and 3. Ömür Harun – Kadans Bisiklet. Short Route Women General Classification: 1. Sevcan Alper – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Buket Demirci – Maltepe Cycling Club and 3. Elif İslam – Mac Team Bikers. Long Route Women General Classification: 1. Leniz Pamuk – Rise Performance Club, 2. Züleyha Dikbaş – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team) and 3. Duygu Avşarlıoğlu – Ferdi. 18-34 Age Long Route Women: 1. Beyza Ersan (Yalova). 45-49 Age Long Route Women: 1. Züleyha Diktaş (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Duygu Avşarlıoğulları and 3. Gülfem Güllüoğlu (3Max Triathlon Club). 18-34 Age Long Route Men: 1. Anton Hrabovskyı (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Ege Onat Doğuşlu (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team) and 3. Muhammet Tayyib Yıldırım (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team). 35-39 Age Long Route Men: 1. Fatih Aydın (Ferdi), 2. Hüseyin Subaşı (Nashıra Sports Club) and 3. Mesut Toptan. 40-44 Age Long Route Men: 1. Gökhan Uzuntaş (Esra Aluminum), 2. Fatih Özgenlik (Özgenlik Brothers) and 3. Muhammed Yıldız. 45-49 Age Long Route Men: 1. Yunus Yetkin (Coredon Alanya Sports), 2. Turgay Özdemir (Sakarya Türk Telekom) and 3. Timur Nizam (Trek Rmk Dinamis Era). 50-54 Age Long Route Men: 1. Ataman Şekerci, 2. Kürşat Akın and 3. Harun Türünz (Nasıra Sports Club). 55-59 Age Long Route Men, 1. Zafer Yalın (Serapool Cycling Team), 2. Osman Şirin (Yalova Bicycle Stars) and 3. Milhan Dalgıç (Ferdi). 60-64 Age Long Route Men: 1. Mark Allen, 2. Ülke Alp (Kadans Bicycle Triathlon and Sk.) and 3. Mehmet Yıldız (Velokütahya). 65-69 Age Long Route Men: 1. Altan Tatlışen (Ferdi). 15-17 Age Short Route Women: 1. Fatma Gül Topuz (Beylikdüzü Kırlangıç Bisiklet Kulübü). 18-34 Age Short Route Women: 1. Pınar Kurtoğlu (Team İsa Academy), 2. Özlem Baran Kaya and 3. Hande Deniz (Maltepe Cycling Club). 40-44 Age Short Route Women: 1. Elif İslam (Mac Team Bikers), 2. Buse Özlem (Team Iss Academy) and 3. Ebru Özcan (Bahçeşehir College). 45-49 Age Short Route Women: 1. Buket Demirci (Maltepe Cycling Club-MCC), 2. Zeren Yılmazkaraosmanoğlu (Ferdi) and 3. Berna Urgancıoğlu (Bicycle Witches). 50-54 Age Short Route Women: 1. Simla Usluer Birlik (Mac Bikers). 14-17 Age Short Route Men: 1. Mehmet Mert Koyuer, 2. Mustafa Akın (Corendon Alanya Sports) and 3. Furkan Akdeniz (Büyükçekmece Bicycle Club). 18-34 Age Short Route Men: 1. Yağız Atıcı (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Fehim Kadıoğlu (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team) and 3. Hamza İbrahim Engin (Bursa Metropolitan Municipality) 35-39 Age Short Route Men: 1. Harun Ömür (Kadans Bicycle), 2. Cengiz Güner (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team) and 3. Muhammed Atalay (Ferdi). 40-44 Age Short Route Men: 1. Murat Uslu (Beylikdüzü Kırlangıç Bicycle Club), 2. Davut Alkan (Nilüfer Municipality Sports Club) and 3. Mustafa Kemal Kara (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team). 45-49 Age Short Route Men: 1. Engin Karabacakoğlu (Hardline), 2. Ali Haydar Başbay (Kadans Bicycle) and 3. Ahmet Can Iba (RCC). 50-54 Age Short Route Men: 1. Bora Tirki (Istanbul Ferdi), 2. Muharrem Başol (Ferdi) and 3. Mustafa Varol Aşıbol (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team). 55-59 Age Short Route Men: 1. Şeref Sarıca (Ata Yahşi Sports Club), 2. Gürkan Mert (Ferdi) and 3. Ali Şahin (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team). 60-64 Age Short Route Men: 1. Refik Diri (Ferdi), 2. Orkun Ekinci (IGR CC) and 3. Murat Tetik (5.30 Cycling). 65-69 Age Short Route Men: 1. Fahrettin Zeki Türker (Ferdi) and 2. Ertuğrul Karaağaç (Sakarya BasBas). 70-74 Age Short Route Men: Cihangir Çiçen (Velo Aydın). Paralympic 18-34 Age Short Route Women: Sena Fıstıkçı (Sivas Cross Sports Club). Paralympic 18-34 Age Short Route Men: 1. Abdullah Kasaç (Kızılova Sports Club), 2. Fırat Uğur (Corendon Alanya Sports) and 3. Hasan Keremsoy (Ferdi). Paralympic 45-49 Age Short Route Men: Rasim Volkan. Paralympic 35-39 Age Short Route Women: 1. Sevcan Alper (Asperox BikePedia Racing Team) and 2. Gülçin Yaman (Maltepe Cycling Club). Mountain Gate: 1. Anton Hrabovski – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team), 2. Gökhan Uzuntaş – Esra Aluminum and 3. Ege Onat Doğuşlu – (Asperox Bike Pedia Racing Team).