Official presentation of the Triathlon World Cup in Banyoles

The Secretary General for Sport, Ivan Tibau, and the mayor of Banyoles, Miquel Noguer, have chaired this Thursday the presentation of the Banyoles Triathlon World Cup event, the fourth qualifying event for the 2012 World Cup, which will take place next June 17 with the participation of the best specialists in the world. It will be one of the last important preparation tests for the London Olympic Games and an event that "will internationally project an image of a modern and advanced country," said Ivan Tibau.

The event, which took place at the Dr. Melcior Colet Museum and Sports Studies Center, in Barcelona, ​​was attended by Miquel Noguer, mayor of Banyoles, Josep Pujols, territorial representative of Sports in Girona; José Hidalgo, president of the Spanish Triathlon Federation, and Jesús Lluís Andreu, president of the Catalan Triathlon Federation, as well as Jordi Congost, Councilor for Sports of the Banyoles City Council, and Joan Anton Abellan, executive director of the event.

That of Banyoles is, together with that of Hamburg, one of the tests set by the International Triathlon Union as a recommended test for the Olympic Games, in which the triathletes will measure their strength for the London event. The event is the fourth of the nine events of the 2012 World Cup and will be held in the Olympic modality: 1,5 km of swimming, 40 km of cycling and 10 km of running through the town. An attendance of a maximum of 150 elite triathletes is expected (between the male and female categories).

In the words of José Hidalgo “The event reflects the marked sporting character of Banyoles, its closeness to sports in general and especially to triathlon. The organization presents a program of the highest quality, bringing the city and the competition itself closer to the elite of the great triathlon events

international. In turn, it should be noted that Banyoles is the third Spanish city to host an event of this size together with San Sebastián in the 80s and Madrid. In this way, it enters a very select group of cities chosen to host an event of this magnitude ”.
For his part, the mayor of Banyoles, Miquel Noguer, recalled the status of a sports tourist destination for a city "where triathlon has a meeting place", thanks to the organization of 6 events throughout the year, and congratulated himself of the high degree of commitment of the population, the volunteers and the sports clubs of Banyoles, which make possible the success of the competitions that take place in the city. In fact, it is a leap in quality for Banyoles to go from organizing the Premium Triathlon European Cup in 2011 to this Triathlon World Cup.

During the weekend, other triathlon events will also be held in the capital of Pla de l'Estany, such as the qualifying event for the Spanish Championship (Saturday 16 June), the sprint triathlon for age groups (Saturday 16 June June), and the popular triathlon in supersprint mode (Saturday, June 16). Banyoles has a long experience in organizing international tests of various modalities such as rowing, canoeing and triathlon.

FETRI