18th of December of 2018
The most extensive sports programme of the past three editions
Sea Otter Europe Costa Brava-Girona 2019 presents an extensive and varied sports programme for its third edition, which will take place in Girona from 31 May to 2 June with some exciting new developments in respect to last year.
As is already well known, sporting events, whether competitive or participative, are key to the success of Sea Otter, as they have always been in the United States in the Sea Otter Classic.
The sports events of a festival of these characteristics are a means of bringing visitors to the Festival, a showcase for brands and sponsors, each one of them providing highly important media coverage, and a means to attract dozens of top-level international athletes in each one of the specialisms. In short, a large part of the festival’s success is thanks to the sporting events that take place.
Furthermore, participating in any of these events gives you the additional benefit of enjoying a spectacular weekend at one of the world’s most important cycling festivals, with the added appeal of being able to try out more than 400 bicycles from the current best international brands and learning first-hand about all the sector’s new developments.
The Eliminator is one of the most innovative and spectacular disciplines, which we are these days lucky enough to enjoy as part of international mountain biking. A reduced number of invited riders race four at a time, completing a few laps of a very short, closed circuit that is full of obstacles and very accessible for spectators. After each heat two riders are eliminated until the grand final. In the last edition the world champion, Titouan Perrin-Ganier, didn’t disappoint and clinched the first edition. The spectacle can be enjoyed on the Friday afternoon at 6 p.m.
One of Sea Otter’s great events is always the Scott Marathon Cup and last year about a thousand riders participated along with some of the discipline’s greats. This year it will also be part of the UCI Marathon Series, ensuring more participation, more international riders seeking UCI points and, no doubt, more international media coverage.
For another year the Copa Catalana Internacional Bikingpoint/Super Cup Massi, which usually counts on the participation of some of the best pros, will be one of the most awaited star events. Last year big names such as the men’s winner Sam Gaze and the women’s champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot put on a spectacular show of first-class mountain biking. In light of the fact that this year’s edition is a C1 event there’s no doubt that we will once again enjoy the presence of great international names. The women’s event will take place on the Saturday afternoon, while the men’s will be held on the Sunday morning.
This year Sea Otter Europe 2019 will also present a new Gravel race, one of the disciplines that has been gaining strength in recent times. These types of medium road and mountain bicycles, designed for long distances on unpaved terrain, allow one to embark on great journeys enjoying a variety of landscapes in a short amount of time. In just a few days we will have more information on the route, but knowing Girona’s landscapes it will surely be spectacular. The event will set off from the festival on the Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
The Criterium, perhaps the biggest and most exciting new edition to the forthcoming 2019 edition, takes place on the Saturday afternoon at 6 p.m. at Rambla Xavier Cugat, adjacent to the Festival. Ex-professional cyclists will compete on a closed circuit with the same drama as an Eliminator-style event, in which the last rider to cross the finish line will be eliminated after each lap until we are left with the victor. Thrilling and exhilarating it will also act as a well-deserved tribute to the great cyclist Alberto Losada.
For its third edition, Sea Otter Europe’s La Brava returns with a new name – a play on words with the name of the place in which it is held, the Costa Brava, as the Sea Otter Europe Cycle Tour looks for greater exposure. The event will continue to be sponsored by the prestigious German bicycle brand Ghost. This year all the activity will take place on Sunday 2 June with both the 100 km and the 140 km tour options setting off at the same time at 8:30 a.m. This forthcoming edition will present many new developments, including better located starting and finishing points for greater convenience and visibility of participants on Rambla Xavier Cugat adjacent to the festival entrance. Refreshments will be more extensive and improved, and registration will include an exclusive jersey designed especially for the occasion by the French brand Wear Design. The event’s routes and their profiles have already been presented and they promise many surprises and stunning locations.
Rounding up an epic mountain biking programme is the E-bike Marathon sponsored by Ghost – an electric bike race boasting two circuits with different distances, which takes place on the Saturday. The wonderful MTB Classic event also returns, in which bike models dating from prior to 1990 will compete. The first edition managed to create a nostalgic atmosphere that was much enjoyed by participants taking them back to the early days of this great sport.
Exhibitions and adrenaline
Aside from the competitions, the programme will also be made up of impressive exhibitions and other races, such as the BMX, Trial, the Classic race and the mini DH Sprint. Once again, there will also be a Gravity zone, where the exhilarating Eliminator will be held on the Friday afternoon, and in which visitors can enjoy themselves and test out bicycles for the rest of the weekend.
The sports programme of Sea Otter Europe 2019 includes a comprehensive and varied range of races, which will enjoy the participation of internationally renowned, trophy-winning cyclists as well as fans of cycling across all its different disciplines.
Apart from the main new developments, several events have been programmed especially for children, in which the motivation of learning skills for enjoying mountain and road biking will take precedence. Of particular note is the Kids’ Open MTB, a qualifying event for the youngest categories, whose points count towards the 2019 Open of the Catalan Cycling Federation. This section will also include a non-competitive discipline for the youngest MTB hopefuls.
One of the objectives of Sea Otter Europe Costa Brava-Girona is to make cycling accessible to all enthusiasts of this sport, which is why there will also be open events for amateurs to practise together with their families or groups of friends. Registration for the Scott Marathon Cup and La Brava is now open and registration for the rest the events will be opened gradually.