Franja Academy in Ljubljana, Slovenia

In Slovenia and its neighboring countries, the name ”Franja” stands for the biggest cycling event of the region.

For this year’s 35th anniversary of the Franja bicycle race, an international conference called “Franja Academy” has been added to the program, emphasizing the cultural background of the event and offering a platform for discourses on the scope of future cycling projects. 

Starting on June 6th, participants were invited to visit historical sites like the Partisan hospital of physician Franja B. Bidovec, who the race was named after, and listen to speakers from various international organizations, such as the Dutch Cycling Embassy. Besides our lecture on the impact of cycling, carried out by Dorian Lohmann, guest speakers talked about topics like the effect of tourism or the social aspects of big sports events.

The Academy closed with a women’s time trial, a public family cycling tour and finally the big race over 156/97 km, opened by Dutch ambassador Bart Twaalfhoven. All events were officially part of the Cycling Festival Europe 2016.

 (Above: Dutch Ambassador Bart Twaalfhoven opening Franja Maraton in Ljubljana. First picture: Dorian Lohmann presenting at Franja Academy)