Man, you won't believe this! I was chilling at Fane's terrace, sipping a beer and scrolling through the news on my phone, when I stumbled upon something that made me spill my beer on the table. Romania, bro, grabbed 13 medals at the Balkan Cycling Championships in Pristina, Kosovo! And not just any medals – 4 gold and 1 silver! I crossed myself, I swear. Me, who can barely ride a bike to the store, was left speechless. Turns out we've got kids who actually achieve something, not just on TikTok.
Listen up, here's how it went down. The competition was from June 5 to 7, 2026, in Pristina, and Romania showed up with 24 athletes in the Elite, U19, and U17 categories. No joke, we had a serious delegation. And guess what? They came back with bags full. Day one, the individual time trial, brought us seven medals. Seven, bro! Like hitting the jackpot at the slot machines. Mara Perșoiu from ACS Olimpic Zărnești took gold in U17 women, and Gabriel Andronache from CS Petrolul Ploiești was the top dog in U19 men. Ianis Sinu, also from Olimpic Zărnești, snagged silver in U17 men. And four bronzes: Ioana Pătrașcu (CS Voința Cluj-Napoca), Antonia Orzan (ACS Olimpic Zărnești), Cătălina Cătineanu (CSA Steaua București), and Ovidiu Dorcu (CS Ciclism Neamț). Basically, we broke the bank from the start.
But it didn't stop there, boss. Day two, the road races for U17 and U19 gave us another gold, courtesy of Ioana Pătrașcu – yeah, the same one from Cluj – who became Balkan champion in U17 women. Plus three more bronzes: Mara Perșoiu (again), Matei Cucu (CSM Constanța), and Bianca Pătrașcu (Club Ciclism Turbo). I was already thinking of sending them flowers.
Day three, the last one, was the bomb: Wendy Bunea, from ACS A Pedal Forward, won gold in Elite Women! Cătălina Cătineanu, from Steaua, took bronze. In Elite Men, Gerhard Moldansky from CSU Târgu Mureș placed 4th in the final sprint, just off the podium. But still, an excellent result.
Cătălin Sprinceană, the president of the Romanian Cycling Federation, said these results are a source of pride for all Romanian cycling. And I say he's right, bro! Year after year, we prove we're among the strongest teams at the start. 13 medals, including 4 Balkan champion titles – that's no small feat. He thanked the athletes and the technical team who made sure everything ran smoothly. Kudos to them!
Let's see who competed in each category. In Elite: Denis Piciu, Alin Toader, Andrei Cărbunarea, Gerhard Moldansky, Ovidiu Dorcu, Cătălin Buta, Wendy Bunea, Cătălina Cătineanu, and Natalia Mănescu. In U19: Theodor Trică, Gabriel Andronache, Matei Cucu, Dragoș Cioclin, David Motoran, Bianca Pătrașcu, Brigitte Belu, and Antonia Orzan. In U17: Ianis Sinu, Alexandru Boncilă, Teodor Lemp, Flavius Enescu, Tudor Filip, Mara Perșoiu, and Ioana Pătrașcu. All of them, along with the technical staff – coach Georgios Georgiadis, sports directors Filip Grigorescu and Marcel Gheorghe, masseur Ioan Dobrin, and mechanic Petre Trică – did an outstanding job.
Now, if you ask me, bro, I'm proud that we have kids who achieve great things and represent us with honor. Too bad the news talks more about scandals and less about such successes. But that's how it is – we know we're awesome. Now, I'm off to tell Mioara to buy Brian a new bike, maybe he'll catch the cycling bug. But she says sneakers are better, because cycling is too expensive. Eh, we'll see.
