The sign ceremony of the Meta Volante of Mazarrón has been celebrated this Wednesday. The event was attended by Gaspar Miras, mayor of Mazarrón, Francisco García, sports councillor, and Paco Guzmán, general director of the Vuelta.
Miras has celebrated the return of the race to the town and has offered to collaborate with the organisation for future editions.
Miras ha celebrado la presencia de la carrera en el municipio, y se ha ofrecido para colaborar con la organización de cara a futuras ediciones.
"We put ourselves at the disposal of the organisers so that we can be more ambitious and that the race can have more stages again".
Guzman has highlighted the teams. There will be 21. Between them, there are 7 UCI World Team. Movistar Team, Astana Qazaqstan, UAE Team Emirates, Bora-Hansgrohe, Cofidis, Intermarché-Wanty y Education First are the teams of a category with more representation in the race as years go by.
Mazarrón will be on the second flat section of the race. It will start in Totana, with a 9 kilometres straight. After El Paretón, the race will find a mainly downhill road which will make the entrance to Mazarrón a very fast moment. The Head of the Race will enter the town at 16:45.
This will be the first time of the race in Mazarrón since 2015. That year, it hosted the grand start, and went through the kilometres that will be crucial this year. The Memorial Mariano Rojas will be at Avenida Constitución.
After leaving Mazarrón, the race will arrive to Puerto de Mazarrón, and Isla Plana. It will be a very fast and technical section, that will drive the riders to the Alto del Cedacero. Here, and in the previously mentioned 9 kilometres straight, the wind could be crucial.
The team roster continues to grow. All the Spanish teams will be at the race. Movistar Team (UCI World Team) and Euskaltel Euskadi, defending champions, wil be joined by Caja Rural, Kern Pharma and Burgos BH (UCI Pro Teams), and the newcomer Manuela Fundación (UCI Continental Team).
Alejandro Valverde will try to win his 6th Vuelta a la Región de Murcia-Costa Cálida- Gran Premio Banco Sabadell in his last appareance on the race. To do so, he will have to beat Antonio Jesús Soto, the defending champion. He has got a really impressive last participations. He missed out of the victory in Caravaca because of a crash with a wall and won last year’s edition after an almost 70 kilometres solo ride.
Rubén Fernández (Cofidis), Miguel Ángel Ballesteros and José María García (Electro Hiper Europa) are the other local riders that will participate.
The Vuelta Ciclista a la Región de Murcia will be again the best showcase for the Región de Murcia. It will be watched by 153 million households worldwide for 2 hours, and in 21 different languages. This year, with a focus on Mazarrón and Cartagena.
