Political personalities from the Region of Murcia and the cities along the race, sponsors, federations and representatives of the Guardia Civil and Local Police of Alcantarilla have gathered for the presentation of the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia -Costa Cálida- Gran Premio Banco Sabadell, which will turn 41 years without interruptions.
Taking part on the event were Francisco Guzmán, Vuelta a Murcia CEO , Marcos Ortuño, Consejero de Presidencia, Turismo y Deportes, Joaquín Buendía, Mayor of Alcantarilla, and Carmelo Vera, director of the central area of Banco Sabadell Murcia.
Ortuño has spoken about the importance of mixing sport and tourism. Especially on a sport that is the greatest showcase of the monuments, cities and countries of the zone that travels. He expects a great economical impact due to the international exposition of the Region de Murcia.
Buendía has highlighted the importance of Alcantarilla on murcian cycling. A city that has hosted the Vuelta a Murcia on three further occasions as the starting and finishing points of the race. It has also been a key point of the race since 2016, and it is the hometown of two participants: Antonio Jesús Soto and Miguel Ángel Ballesteros.
Vera set the efforts of the organization of the race to make it possible as an example, and has shown the delight of Banco Sabadell of being a part of the Vuelta a Murcia.
Guzmán remembered the need to keep secret the route of the race, and has appealed to the responsibility of the Murcian people to not go to the roads and take care of their own health. He also thanked the sports and tourism institutions for making possible the addition of the race to Eurosport, the television of cyclism. A move that will put the Región of Murcia on the center of the cycling world for two hours. He also thanked the sponsors and Guardia Civil and the Police for making possible the race year after year.
Lastly, he has talked about the participation of this edition, which includes cyclist from 27 different countries and from the 5 continents, and teams from four continents, where we can find names like lejandro Valverde, José Joaquín Rojas, Antonio Jesús Soto, Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Óscar Rodríguez, Alexander Kristoff, Dani Navarro, Ilnur Zakarin y Roman Kreuziger.
All of them will take part on a very hard stage, which remembers the ones of the northern classics. It will have 192 kilometres. The start will be on Los Alcázares and the finish line will be located on Alcantarilla, In total, it includes 4 king of the mountain sprints, 3 Metas Volantes, and 2 special prizes.
Alejandro Valverde will lead again Movistar Team and it is the great favourite to take the victory. The route goes through a terrain which he knows perfectly and is perfect to his chances to win the race for the sixth time.
The race can be followed live on Eurosport and 7 TV Región de Murcia. With this move, we make it possible for all the Murcians to watch the race for free.
On wednesday, Los Alcázares were presented as the official start of the race, on an act with the Mayor of Los Alcázares, Mario Cervera, Sports Councilor, Pedro Pascual, Johan Svensson, director of the area of Los Alcázares of Banco Sabadell Murcia, and Francisco Guzmán.. This will mark the second year in a row that the Vuelta a Murcia begins in the town.
