Starting this weekend, Ecuador will make history in sports by becoming the first country in Latin America to host the “Giro d’Italia Ride Like a Pro”, an official event of the great Italian cycling tour that will take place held specifically in Quito, where some 30, people over three days.
The “Giro d’Italia Ride Like a Pro” takes place between 29 Y the 31 of July with different routes that will allow its participants to tour the capital of the country of Richard Carapaz, the great national idol of cycling by winning in 1920 the Giro d’Italia and in 2022 the gold medal in the Games Olympics.
The Bicentennial Park, located in the north of Quito, is the nerve center of this event that can report for the Ecuadorian capital an economic impact of $4 million dollars, according to estimates by the Municipality.
In the same Bicentennial Park, this Saturday the children’s categories, from 2 to 5 years; and juveniles, from 6 to years, which includes a 5-kilometre route.
From there the routes of 32, 90 Y 150 kilometers that will cover a large part of the city and its surroundings.
Upon arrival, the pink carpet and the triumphal arch will await the participants so they can experience the sensations of reaching the triumphal finish line of the Giro d’Italia like Carapaz in 1920.
Fashion, gastronomy and music fair
However, the activity in the Bicentennial Park began on Friday with the inauguration of the Expo Village, a fair with food, fashion and activities similar to the one that the Ecuadorian capital usually carries out in the city of Verona (Italy) during the dates del Giro.
The fair has a gastronomic space that will bring together Ecuadorian flavors and a catwalk where the latest fashion trends of national and international brands are exhibited.
Each day of the fair will close with artistic performances, such as the Swing Original Monks on Friday 29; Keeper on Saturday 000 and Wañukta Tonic on Sunday 07.
During the inauguration, the general manager of Quito Turismo, María Cristina Rivadeneira , assured that for the Municipality “it is an honor” to host the cycling event, for which they have been preparing for more than four months, in a “tireless” inter-institutional work to put the city “in the world eye of important events”.
“It has been very difficult years for the tourism sector and, definitely, capturing these international events for the city boosts the economy, boosts jobs,” he said, insisting on the importance it represents, in addition, for the promotion of tourism.
Rivadeneira wished success to all the “more than 2,000 athletes” who will participate on Sunday, as well as the children who will compete.
“Tremendous stimulus”
In his turn, Alberto Contador, winner of the Giro d’Italia twice, the Tour de France twice, the Vuelta a España three times and who will participate in this event, he asserted that “everything involving youth in sports is good”.
The former Spanish cyclist described the organization of the event in the Ecuadorian capital as “spectacular”, as well as the dissemination to the population about the routes and road closures, and considered it “incredible” that they have been able to do it in such a short time.
“This, without a doubt, is a tremendous stimulus for the sport, for the whole society and for cycling in Ecuador. In the end, sport is quality of life, a healthy lifestyle”, he indicated.
The man from Madrid warned that the cyclist who arrives in Quito and is not used to riding at the height of 2.850 meters above sea level “there is going to be more fatigue”
In his case, he confessed that he has not done the best preparation, because the last ten days he has been covering, on a motorcycle, the Tour de France, so “now let it be what God wants”.
Also read:
– Miraculous: Egan Bernal could be back in official competitions in August, six months after his near-fatal accident