2020 UCI MTB Marathon World Championship took place in Sakarya Ayçiçeği Bisiklet Vadisi on 23-25 October 2020. The race, in which a total of 92 athletes from 30 countries -57 in men’s category and 35 in women’s category- competed courageously in the race, contributed to the worldwide promotion of the city of Sakarya in terms of history, culture, art and locality, and was hosted by the Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality. The race, which was held for the first time in Sakarya, attracted great interest from the lovers of the cycling sport.

The fact that 2020 UCI MTB Marathon World Championship was held in Sakarya, proved that the city, which is a candidate to have the “Bicycle-friendly city” title given by the UCI, is indeed a city of cycling, and it is a great step for Sakarya to become one of the places around the world that are mentioned when it comes to cycling sport.
The world championship in elite women’s category was won by Ramona Forchini from Switzerland, while Maja Wloszczowska from Poland took the second place and Ariane Luthi from Switzerland took the third place.

The world champion in elite men’s category was Hector Leonardo Paez Leon from Colombia, who managed to protect his title, as he was also the champion of 2019. Tiago Ferreira of Portugal finished in second place, while Martin Stosek of the Czech Republic came in third place.

The awards were presented to the winners by Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Hamza Yerlikaya, the Governor of Sakarya Çetin Oktay Kaldırım, the Mayor of Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality Ekrem Yüce and the President of Turkish Cycling Federation Erol Küçükbakırcı.

The city of Sakarya, which hosted such a prestigious organization for the first time in the discipline of cycling, received full marks from the authorities and athletes.