A buzzing second day at the Sea Otter Europe Costa Brava-Girona Bike Show, with thousands of visitors who, all-day Saturday, filled the different exhibition areas, activities, exhibitions and race areas. Attendees strolled around the expanded exhibition area, which boasts 250 stands with more than 400 brands showcasing their products, with a particular focus on the urban mobility segment. One space, the European Mobility Festival, today attracted the curiosity of thousands of visitors looking to check out the different electric mobility solutions designed for everyday travel in urban areas.
Activity got underway early in the morning when the Girona Gravel Ride set off, which, due to the rainfall the previous night, was raced on muddy and slippery terrain. Renowned names such as Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Verona and Lourdes Oyarbide of the Canyon Movistar team, Samu Sánchez and Jose Antonio Hermida set off with hundreds of fans of this new discipline, which is undergoing significant growth, on a 125-km ride around Girona’s most beautiful trails and landscapes. Girona is considered one of the top international destinations for this form of cycling.
One of the festival’s key events, the Scott Marathon Cup, was also held in the early hours of the morning. Almost 800 participants took part in the final 2023 championship title-deciding race. In the end, the race was won by one of its regular specialists, the Dutchman Hans Becking of the Buff Megamo team. The women’s category was won by Tessa Kortekaas, also from the Netherlands, of the Cannondale Vas Arbay team.
Meanwhile, the Open School MTB and the Super Cup Youth races, all categories of the children’s races and the mountain bike champions of tomorrow were held.
At the same time, on the World E-Bike Series circuit, the second of the Sea Otter Europe World Cup events was held, this time won by Frenchwoman Justine Tonso of Lapierre Overvold, while the men’s category was won by fellow French rider Jerôme Gilloux of Lapierre Overvold.
In the afternoon came the MTB Eliminator Continental Series, one of the new modes of mountain biking that is all the rage due to its spectacular and explosive nature. The winners, in two hotly contested finals, were the Italian world champion Gaia Tormena and the Norwegian Sondre Rokke.
The afternoon also saw the most nostalgic and authentic race, the MTB Classics, in which cyclists and fans of all ages gather with mountain bikes from the ’80s and ’90s. The essence and grassroots of mountain biking is at the heart of Sea Otter Europe each year. Furthermore, the 30th anniversary of the first MTB World Cup held in Spain in 1993 in Llinars del Vallès was celebrated. Before it got underway, tribute was also paid to one of the families that has been competing in and involved in mountain biking the longest: the Misser family.
One last day with the Ciclobrava by Orbea
Tomorrow will be the third and final day of Sea Otter Europe, with events as notable as the main road cycling race, the Ciclobrava by Orbea, which, with three distances (70 km, 100 km and 140 km), is the Sea Otter Europe event with the most participants. And also tomorrow, the men’s and women’s Super Cup Massi races will take place on the festival’s MTB circuit. Also taking place is the Corracec E-Bike Day, a 30-km ride on electric bikes along the best trails around the city of Girona.
The full programme of activities is available at www.seaottereurope.com
23 September 2023
