Writer: Yavuz İşçen
August 2008

In 1989 the firm called ‘Tour Bike’ enabled Cappadocia to meet for the first time with mountain bike by importing 63 mountain bike from Italy. The very first international mountain bike race was held in 1997 in Alanya.  It was followed by the international organization in 2000 in Ürgüp. These races, organized under ‘Cappadocia Mountain Bike Festival’ until this date was named one of the biggest organizations in Turkey.  Later on these races became traditional and were able to reach today regularly. 
This process started in 1990’s somehow was a message of organizing ‘2007 European Mountain Bike Championships’ in Göreme. Organizing this Championship was an important step in Turkish cycling history and during this championship Cappadocia hosted the world famous cyclists and cycling authorities. At the end the organization of European Championships got the full mark and created a hope about becoming the host country of World Championship of 2011.

Note: This article has been published in Peribacası Cappadocia Culture and Publicity Magazine, August 2008 issue. It is under protection of the copyrights of the magazine. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means without prior permission from the owner. www.cappadociaexplorer.com