The Professor Carlos Gravata Quarteira International Triathlon takes place this weekend, April 27th and 28th, and brings together around 700 athletes from 35 nationalities. The competition, which encompasses two stages of the European Cup, celebrates, in 2019, 18 years of existence, reaching adulthood «without losing the vigor of youth».
This is the opinion of Vítor Aleixo, mayor of Loulé, expressed at the press conference for the presentation of the Triathlon, this Friday, April 26, in the middle of Calçadão de Quarteira.
«We have been improving at organizational levels and we were recognized for it», said the mayor, alluding to the “Organizer of the Year” award given by the Portuguese Triathlon Federation to the Chamber of Loulé last year.
“We want to continue to do well and make our contribution. We are convinced that this will be another high point,” added Vítor Aleixo.
Triathlon starts this Saturday, April 27, at 13:45 pm, with the Elite Women's European Cup. At 16:30 pm, the elite men's race starts, in turn.
In both, the Olympic distance will be covered (1,5 kilometers for swimming, 40 kilometers for cycling and 10 kilometers for running).
Laura Lindemann is one of the favorites for victory in women's elites and, at the press conference, the German athlete acknowledged that the Quarteira Triathlon is "a good race in an excellent location".
Alexandre Nobre, male elite athlete, did not hesitate to say that he is "in the best shape ever". “I'm very confident and I'll do my best to fight for the top places. Competing in Quarteira is always motivating for Portuguese athletes because this is an emblematic event», he added.
On the second day of competition, Sunday, the female junior athletes start the European Cup competition at 8:45 am, followed at 10:00 am by the male juniors. Here, the sprint distance will be covered, which includes 750 meters of swimming, 5 kilometers of running and also 20 of cycling.
In the opinion of Vasco Rodrigues, president of the Portuguese Triathlon Federation, there will be, in these competitions, «many quality Portuguese athletes». “Quarteira will help us show our athletes to Europe and the world, in what is an excellent competition”, he said.
The official even said that this European Cup is almost "with the level of a World Cup".
After the juniors, at 11:30 am, there is a race counting for the Cup of Portugal, with the Portuguese teams competing in the Quarteira terrain in the sprint distance.
These will be two busy days in Quarteira, which is already evident in the city with the presence of triathletes and technical teams. The tests will take place in places like the Calçadão or the Sá Carneiro and Mota Pinto avenues.
"We are going to have a luxury weekend, with temperatures of 23, 24 degrees, showing the best we have," said Telmo Pinto, president of the Parish Council of Quarteira.
With this competition, one of the objectives is to «project Quarteira as a sporting destination». «We have geographical conditions, we have equipment and we want to be a destination geared towards sport. We already have triathlon teams coming here to train," added the mayor.
And, in this equation, the hotel industry also enters. João Soares, director of Hotel Dom José, a Triathlon partner, explained to journalists that this is a competition with an impact on the hotel unit he runs.
«Our dynamic changes and there is a whole environment that forces us to be prepared». In João Soares' opinion, competitions like this also contribute to the dissemination and projection of Quarteira.
The competition, which since 2009 has been part of the European Cup for Elites and Juniors and in the Cup of Portugal, it also intends to be a tribute to the main promoter of the competition: the ill-fated Carlos Gravata, who was a Physical Education teacher in Quarteira.
Photos: Rodrigo Damascene | Sul Informação
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