Employees, students, and partners of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice spent the entire month of June accumulating kilometers on roads and bike paths as part of the traditional Academic Bicycle Challenge 2026. Once again, the university converted each kilometer ridden into one Czech crown donated to charity. Riders broke the record from last year's event by more than 20,000 kilometers.
The thirty-day cycling challenge has become a traditional period of cooperation and solidarity at the University of South Bohemia. Trained cyclists join forces with those who use bikes perhaps only for commuting, forming teams or recording their distances individually. Boundaries are pushed, and rewards await athletes at every milestone. Teams compete for the best results, but all are united by an important goal: to rack up as many kilometers as possible, which translates into financial support for people who need and appreciate it.
"In this year's cycling challenge, we selected three specific stories that we want to contribute to. We know exactly where we are directing our efforts. The money raised will go to two families whose children need physiotherapy or neurorehabilitation that insurance companies often do not cover. The third part of the money will then help our student, who organizes summer camps for children with muscular atrophy," explained Edita Kadlecová, spokesperson for the University of South Bohemia, regarding the targeted financial aid from this year's challenge.
The most successful university rider this year was Roman Tůma from the Faculty of Science of the USB, who covered 2,433 kilometers during June. Among women, Lucie Kačerová from the Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters of the USB was undefeated, accumulating exactly 2,000 kilometers. The Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters dominated among the teams. Under the name "FROV cannot be stopped," the cyclists from this team truly stopped their bikes in the last minute of the challenge with a total of 16,690 kilometers.
Partners of the University of South Bohemia from the company ČEZ also contributed significantly. Their winning team rode 36,166 kilometers, contributing significantly to the joint financial aid fund. Karel Pleticha significantly surpassed his record success from last year, totaling an incredible 5,555 km in this year's challenge, while the best woman from the ČEZ Cyclotron team was Radka Malíková with 2,222 kilometers.
"I want to thank everyone who participated in this year's University of South Bohemia cycling challenge. I am pleased that nearly 300 of our university's students and employees got on their bikes throughout June, whether for just a few kilometers or for respectable distances. The cycling challenge has once again shown that sport can connect people and is an inseparable part of university life. Thanks in part to our partners, we managed to set a record again and contribute 135,000 crowns to people in need. Over the month of June, a large cycling family was formed at the university again, helping others together," said Pavel Kozák, Rector of the University of South Bohemia.
Thanks also go to the main partner of this year's ABC Challenge—the South Bohemian bicycle manufacturer Leader Fox, which donated two bicycles for the raffle, as well as other partners, Budějovický Budvar and the ČEZ Group.
