Six Macedonian cyclists arrived in Kruševo after riding 930 kilometres from Nova Gradiška in Croatia as part of the "From the Heart for Toše" cycling tour. Dragan Jovanov, Vladimir Kanzurov, Oliver Stojanovski, Gorance Bogoevski, Aleksandar Garača and Goran Stojanov set off on 19 September and covered around 150 kilometres a day. This year the tour was held for the ninth time.

Nova Gradiška is no random starting point. It was there, on the motorway, that Toše Proeski - Macedonia's most beloved singer - was killed in a car crash in October 2007. On arrival the cyclists paid their respects at his grave at Gumenje and visited his memorial house. Along the way they were joined by fellow riders from Croatia and Serbia.

"This is the ninth year in a row of the cycling tour from Nova Gradiška to Kruševo. Like the previous eight, this year brings mixed emotions - pride and sadness. Pride that we had Toše, a man with a big heart who spread love and kindness wherever he went, and sadness at his far too early departure," said the tour's initiator, Dragan Jovanov.

"Every year we're sad that we ride for Toše and he's not here. But we're also proud, and we ride out of respect for Toše. When we reach Gumenje, we realise the goal has been achieved. The heart beats much harder," said Vladimir Kanzurov.

Nineteen years after he was gone, people still get on their bikes and ride almost a thousand kilometres for him - nine years in a row. The tour is not a state event; it is the personal initiative of Dragan Jovanov and his friends. That says more about Toše than any official commemoration ever could.