- On Wednesday 24th January the agreement has been signed by which Alhama de Murcia will host the departure on 10th February
- Team Visma | Lease a Bike team, winners of the three Grand Tours in 2023, will will be in the Vuelta
- It joins the last two winners of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia: UAE Team Emirates (2022) and INEOS Grenadiers (2023)
- All the Spanish teams will be at the race
Alhama de Murcia has signed this Wednesday the agreement that makes it the starting point of the 44th Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia - Costa Cálida - Gran Premio Primafrio.
The event, which was held in the Town Hall of Alhama, was attended by María Cánovas, Mayoress of Alhama de Murcia, Antonio José Sibina, local councillor for sports, Esther Ballester, head of the Primafrio Foundation, and Paco Guzmán, General Manager of the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia - Costa Cálida - Gran Premio Primafrio.
Cánovas emphasised how proud Alhama de Murcia is to host an international event of this calibre. "For the people of Alhama it is a source of pride that the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia - Costa Cálida - Gran Premio Primafrio starts here. The race will start at 10:30 from the headquarters of Primafrio and will cross the the centre of the town on the neutralised route through ".
For his part, Sibina thanked Primafrio for the work they do in local sport, providing constant support to all the clubs based in the town. He also highlighted the values of sport at all stages, which thanks to Primafrio are being promoted from an early age in all sporting disciplines.
The start of the race will be at Primafrio's headquarters, where the presentation of the teams will also take place. The event will be completely open to the public. Access to the Primafrio facilities for all fans will be via the Librilla service road, and there will be free parking.
The team presentation will start at 9:20, one hour before the race starts. At 10:30 the race will start in direction to Alhama de Murcia, a town that will be crossed during the neutralised route.
It will be entered from the N-340a and will run along: Avenida Antonio Fuertes, Avenida España, Avenida Juan Carlos I, the Town Hall, Avenida Sierra Espuña, Rambla Don Diego, Camino Almendrico and N-340a towards Totana.
Guzmán referred to the participation in this edition of the race. This year's Vuelta has one of the best line-ups in its history. The best teams in the world will take the start on 10 February with star-studded teams looking for victory on the Gran Vía in Murcia.
Team Visma - Lease a Bike, winners of the last two Tour de France and the three Grand Tours in 2023, join a roster that continues to grow year after year.
They join the list of prestigious teams that will participate in this edition, which also includes UAE Team Emirates, the best team in the UCI Ranking 2023, and INEOS Grenadiers, which will bring a very strong and solid team. These two teams are the last ones to have won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia - Costa Cálida - Gran Premio Primafrio. Emirates won in 2022 with Alessandro Covi, and INEOS in 2023 with Ben Turner.
All the Spanish teams will take the start: Movistar Team, the only Spanish World Team, Caja Rural - Seguros RGA, Burgos BH, Equipo Kern Pharma, Euskaltel Euskadi and Illes Balears - Arabay.
The three professional riders from the Region de Murica will also be there: Antonio Jesús Soto, winner in 2021, Rubén Fernández and José María García.
Another team that will be present at the race is Bora - Hansgrohe. In 2023 they took third place with Jordi Meeus. In total they have 3 podiums. The aforementioned Meeus, Lennard Kämna in 2020 and Patrick Konrad in 2017.
9 World Teams are confirmed. Intermarché Wanty, Decathlon AG2R and Groupama FDJ join the aforementioned teams.
Other teams that have confirmed their presence at the start at the Primafrio headquarters are Lotto Dstny, best Pro Team in 2023, Total Energies, Q.36 Pro Cycling Team, Tudor Pro Cycling Team and Team Flanders - Baloise.
There will be teams from 8 countries with cyclists of more than 25 nationalities. All 5 continents will be represented.
The race will be broadcast live all over the world on Eurosport, Teledeporte and 7 Televisión. It will once again be the perfect showcase for the Costa Cálida, which will be seen in more than 270 countries. Something that in 2023 contributed to the economic impact of the Vuelta a Murcia - Costa Cálida - Gran Premio Primafrio being 12 million Euros.
