The public in the south of Lanzarote reconnected this weekend with the spectacle offered by adapted cycling. "Amazing," said a fan stationed next to the security fence as the handbikers passed by the descent of the circuit in the center of Playa Blanca at more than 55 kilometers per hour, seconds before braking to take the first curve of a 2.2-kilometer circuit that embodies the passion and strength of inclusive sports, vigor and overcoming that the southern fans applauded non-stop during Saturday morning and also in the previous time trial on Friday afternoon.
Big names with world and Olympic titles behind them make the Handbike Playa Blanca a benchmark on the European calendar of the modality. The Frenchman Mathieu Bosredon, the Belgian resident in Playa Blanca Jonas Van De Steene and the Spaniard Luis Miguel García - Marquina are elite athletes who once again positively value the climate and safety of the Island for the practice of sports and the competitiveness that Handbike Playa Blanca represents to help achieve their next sporting challenges.
García - Marquina won a bronze medal in the individual handbike time trial at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and landed this week in Lanzarote to continue competing and preparing at the highest level in Playa Blanca. "They have treated us very well and we will surely return," he told the mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, after the awards ceremony in Plaza del Carmen, an act of fraternization that also included the presence of the Councilor for Sports of Yaiza, Ángel Lago, the director of the event and head of the Lanzarote sin Barreras Association, José Ángel Vázquez, and the president of the European Handbike Federation, Seine Snippe.
The good weather of the weekend, with hardly any wind, contributed to the fact that half a hundred handbikers, who on Thursday training had only been able to ride on the road at about 20 kilometers per hour, did so on Friday at more than 60 kilometers per hour at the fastest point of the 7.5-kilometer-long route between the towns of La Hoya and Playa Blanca. On Saturday, the top speed in Playa Blanca was around 55 kilometers per hour, not bad for a very demanding urban circuit with long straights and slopes that punish the physique, and even more so, if they are 55 intense minutes that do not allow for relaxation.
Apart from the technical considerations of the event, Óscar Noda also praises "the participation and integration of visiting public and residents on the day of competition and during the month that the handbikers stay in Playa Blanca, as it is important to remember that sporting events have a strong economic component due to the consumption of tourist services by athletes and companions in our destination."
For his part, Ángel Lago highlights "that regardless of the handbike category in which they compete, what the handbikers demonstrate is an infinite capacity for overcoming that encourages us to continue betting on inclusive sports. Yaiza's commitment is to promote sports in different disciplines and remain leaders in holding sporting events because we also promote tourism."
Handbike Playa Blanca 2022
