This afternoon, the Plaza de la Peregrina hosted an official reception by the Mayor of Pontevedra, Miguel Anxo Fernández Lores, for the Spanish National Cycling Team that will compete in the European Cyclo-cross Championships starting this Saturday.
The 28 cyclists of the Spanish National Team, led by the Spanish elite and world top-10 champion Felipe Orts, as well as the Galician youth rider Lorena Patiño, and accompanied by the national coach Pascual Momparler and the president of the Galician Cycling Federation, Carlos Muñiz, were able to chat with the mayor of Pontevedra and pose in front of the church of La Peregrina, in the centre of Pontevedra. The event serves as the starting signal for the European Cyclo-cross Championships, which will host tomorrow the master races with more than 300 registered riders from 18 countries, as well as the Team Relay on Saturday and the national team races on Sunday.
Mayor Miguel Anxo Lorenzo began the ceremony with a minute’s silence in tribute to the victims of the DANA in the Valencian Community and Castilla La Mancha, with a tribute that will be repeated during the event and that also affects part of the Spanish National Team, coming from the affected regions.
Afterwards, the mayor addressed the 28 members of the national team to thank them for their presence in this European Championship and to encourage them to fight to achieve the best possible result in a competition of great importance for their calendar and their sporting future. Fernández Lores took the opportunity to talk with Pascual Momparler, national coach, and Juan Carlos Muñiz, president of the Galician Cycling Federation, about the benefits of the city of Pontevedra and its special commitment to a pedestrian centre and a sustainable city, which has hosted internationally renowned events in recent years.
At the event, the Spanish National Team and the Galician Cycling Federation handed over the jerseys of the national team and of Galicia to the Mayor of Pontevedra. For his part, Fernández Lores presented Momparler with a ceramic gift from Sargadelos.
The Illas das Esculturas hosts the European Cyclo-cross Championships from tomorrow, with the master races, and on Sunday it will close with the junior, under-23 and elite races in which the participation of the whole continent guarantees an enormous spectacle, with the sponsors’ Expo Zone, several food and drink stands for the attendees with Gastro Bracelets and the best national teams fighting for the title of European Champion.