The international cycling festival that shows no signs of slowing down has officially opened. Over the course of the weekend, Girona and the Costa Brava will be filled with a multitude of activities and sporting events.

The third edition of the Sea Otter Europe Costa Brava-Girona Bike Show, the great international cycling festival that will run until Sunday in the surroundings of Fontajau pavilion in Girona, officially opened this afternoon. Exhibitors and cyclists from over 50 countries and 150 journalists from all over the world have been accredited for the international event, which will transform Girona and the Costa Brava into the European capital of cycling.

The good weather forecast for the weekend has led the organisers to believe that they may surpass the 50,000 visitors that came to last year’s edition. This afternoon people already began to throng the festival’s expo area, which hosts roughly 400 of the best international brands from the cycling industry, allowing visitors to try out their latest products. The Demobike area – one of the festival’s most popular sections – also got underway offering visitors the opportunity to test ride up to 500 bike models from 42 brands on different circuits situated close to the festival.

The festival was officially opened by the Mayor of Girona, Marta Madrenas, the Territorial Representative of Sports, Josep Pujols, the deputy of the Provincial Council of Girona, Jordi Camps, and the director of the festival, Albert Balcells.

Madrenas underscored the love affair that Girona has with the world of cycling, and showed her ‘pride at having an event like Sea Otter Europe so close to home, because it represents the excellence and quality that we always strive for and is a real driver of economic growth.’ Pujols highlighted the sporting and leisure event’s multifaceted nature, and how ‘Sea Otter Europe reinforces the region’s status as the capital of cycling within Spain and Europe.’ For his part, Camps spoke of the festival as ‘an indisputable mark of quality, from which the whole region benefits.’ Finally, Balcells thanked the institutions that support Sea Otter Europe, and the cycling industry, which puts its trust in the festival ‘that is expanding across all aspects (80 new exhibitors compared to last year) and acts as a representative for the whole cycling sector, including the industry, cyclists and amateurs, in order to continue growing.’

The competition gets underway

The sports programme kicked off, as is now tradition, with the Eliminator, the festival’s most thrilling event, full of slopes, jumps and sprints across various eliminatory rounds. The young Alex Cano was the fastest in the final ahead of the French rider Vazelle, New Zealander Connor Johnston and Carlos Gamez. The day was topped off with an event especially for e-bikes, the most popular type of bicycles in the Demobike programme, which took place on the same XCO track of the Super Cup Massi.

A top-quality programme for Saturday

Tomorrow the festival will be jam-packed with events as varied as the 100-km Lazer Gravel, the Scott Marathon Series with UCI points up for grabs for professionals, the Children’s MTB Open, the Trial event, the Brompton-bike race, the nostalgic Classic MTB event, the Mini DH, the world’s top MTB cyclists competing in the women’s Super Cup Massi and the Criterium in homage to former professional cyclist Alberto Losada, as well as exhibitions and recreational activities throughout the day. See the full programme of activities at www.seaottereurope.com

31 May 2019