Nikola Nenov

Born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria in 1907, Nikola Nenov went on to become one of the greatest cyclists from his country. After initially starting out as a track cyclist when he was 18-years-old, Nenov soon swapped to the road where he won his very first race. He dominated the local cycling scene, winning multiple editions of the Tour of Vitosha and the Belgrade-Sofia race. In 1935 he finished second overall at the Tour of Bulgaria, winning stages 5 and 11 of the race, and never finishing off the podium on all the other stages.

In 1936 Nenov won his first title at the Bulgarian national road race championships, earning him a place on the Olympic team. He competed in the road race at the Berlin Olympics where he finished the course, but his time was not recorded. Despite this, he continued to have great results back home, winning three more national road race titles (1937, 1939, 1940). In 1949 Nenov was still competing in races, where he won the second stage of the Tour of Bulgaria. When he turned 70 in 1977 he rode in the Jubilee Tour of Gabrovo, finishing second.