Danubeman – thistles of bărăganului 2024

Forget the Tour de France. The spring classics are the "heart of cycling". Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Milan - Sanremo, Paris Roubaix, the Ardennes classics... that's where the men and the boys are separated. Immediately after the last race of the spring, Liege - Bastogne - Liege, ends, we invite you to the opening of the Romanian classics season, with a race that takes the first step towards legend: Ciulinii Bărăganului. In this Bărăgan classic, you will compete with the wind that "caresses" the northern Danube lands, over a distance of 72 km, with a start and finish on the Danube bank, in Călărași. Matache from Ciulinii Bărăganului by Panait Istrati runs the thistles carried by the wind from Călărași to Bucharest. If that kid could do it in his bare feet, at the beginning of the 20th century, you can do it too on a 19th century road bike. XXI, on paved roads.

The "Ciulinii Bărăganului" race is in its first edition under this name and organization, but it has all the prerequisites to establish itself as a Romanian classic. First of all, it shares the name with a classic of Romanian literature and takes place in the same area as the book's action. In addition, it presents the cyclists with the most terrible difficulty: the wind (because Bărăgan means storm in old Turkish). Moreover, it takes place on the banks of the Danube, which means beautiful landscapes and brine at the end.

Come to Călărași on April 27 to run with the thistles of Bărăganului on a flat route - 72 km and 156 m difference in elevation - with an April wind that you will feel from all directions. This means two things: staying in the "warmth" in the peloton will be very important, and the speeds will be very high, which will give PBs to many. The start is in Călărași, in front of the city hall, the cross the city and the stretch towards Independeșta; at Vlad Țepes the peloton turns around, and the entrance to Călărași is on DN3, along the Siderurgic Canal. At the end, everyone is invited to the "brine party".

See you at the start!