Thousands of Novi Sad residents welcomed student cyclists from Strasbourg at the Varadin Bridge

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

Thousands of Novi Sad residents welcomed student cyclists, participants of the more than 1,300-kilometer-long "Tour to Strasbourg", at the Varadin Bridge tonight.

The ceremonial welcome called the "Ceremony for Heroes" began a little after 8 p.m., but the columns of Novi Sad residents arrived at the bridge almost an hour earlier.

They formed a line along the entire route from the Varadin Bridge to the Serbian National Theater, through which the students passed.

A red carpet was laid out for the students on the bridge, and in front of it were the flags of the countries through which the cyclists passed - Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and France.

The column of students crossing the bridge was led by drummers, and they carried exclusively the flag of Novi Sad.

While crossing the bridge and arriving on the red carpet, the students were given laurel wreaths on their heads.

At that moment, torches were lit, and the crowd chanted "Pumpaj".

Behind the column of students, bikers from the informal group "White Rabbits" also crossed the bridge, and the rally was also secured by traffic police.

The column will continue walking along Mihaila Pupina Boulevard to the Serbian National Theater, where a program will be organized that should last until one o'clock after midnight.

On April 3, the student cyclists set off for Strasbourg and covered a journey of more than 1,300 kilometers in 13 days.

On Good Friday, they returned to Novi Sad, where several thousand citizens gave them a symbolic welcome on the campus of the University of Novi Sad.