site.btaVitosha Crowns Balkan Downhill Champions in Historic First for Bulgaria

Vitosha hosted the Balkan Downhill Championship for the first time in Bulgaria on Tuesday, as part of the Vitosha Home Mountain Bike Cup and the final round of the Maxxis BG Downhill Series.

The event drew over 180 riders from nine Balkan countries to the Vitoshko Lale course, one of the most demanding tracks in Bulgaria and the region. Spanning 1,800 metres with a vertical drop exceeding 400 metres, the course includes steep descents, rock gardens, roots, jumps, and other technical features, challenging competitors to race for every second.

Remus Bonta of Romania set the fastest qualifying time of the day at 3:39.39 minutes. In the finals, Bonta experienced a puncture in the lower section of the course but still secured the men's elite Balkan Champion title with a time of 3:40.78 minutes.

Alexandros Topkaroglou of Greece secured second place, finishing 2.02 seconds behind the winner, while Valentin Tenev from the Bulgaria national team took third, 0.22 seconds later. The fastest final run was achieved by 16-year-old Matei Hutanu of Romania with a time of 3:40.11, leading the boys’ 15-16 age category. Dimitris Vlasopoulos of Greece and Damyan Ivanchev of Bulgaria finished second and third, respectively, in this group.

In the boys’ 17-18 category, Bulgaria’s national champion Stamen Markov claimed the Balkan Champion’s jersey, with Kristiyan Dimitrov and Greece’s Emmanouil Loukeris finishing second and third. In the boys’ 13-14 category, Lazar Hadzhikolev secured first place, followed by Stoil Dimitrov and Viktor Stoyanov.

Denitsa Tosheva of Bulgaria led the women's race, securing first place for her national team and finishing over 13 seconds ahead of Romania's Ana Neago, who took second. Nanita Teoharidou of Cyprus finished third.

At the awards ceremony, all 2025 Balkan Champions wore their champion jerseys, and podium finishers received cash prizes and merchandise from event partners.