During this educational campaign aimed at informing women that an early diagnosis of cervical cancer is key to successful treatment and that physical exercise is vital for women's health, the participants, who are doctors and health professionals, have already passed through Skopje, Tirana, Podgorica, Sarajevo and Banja Luka before coming to Zagreb.
The next stop of this year's 1,537-kilometre ride is the Slovenian town of Maribor and the finish line is in Graz, where they are expected on Monday.
The participants in this year's campaign come from Austria, Greece, England, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.
They were welcomed in Zagreb's main square by the local authorities and representatives of the Croatian Cancer League.
An Austrian physician, Rene Laky, who was among the cyclists, recalled in his address to the press that each year, 58,000 women across Europe are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and this disease, which is the fourth most prevalent cancer in terms of incidence in women, takes the lives of 24,000 women annually.
This annual "Ride4Women" campaign, which seeks to raise awareness for the prevention and early diagnosis of cervical cancer and the need to improve women‘s health and protect women’s lives, was launched by the European Society of European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) a few years ago.
The goals of this project are to highlight the high incidence of cervical cancer, especially in younger women, educate the public about the possibility of HPV vaccination, persuade women of the importance of regular gynaecological check-ups, and reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in Europe and the mortality rate associated with the disease.