PHOTOS: Lanzarotedeportiva.com
Lanzarote became on Saturday one of the most important points of adapted sport, with the celebration of the seventh edition of the Vuelta a Playa Blanca in Handbike. More than fifty handbikers participated in the two stages of the event, with fourteen different nationalities represented. The VII Vuelta a Playa Blanca in Handbike once again featured the "Carrera de Las Salinas" and the traditional event in which participants are grouped into teams to complete the most laps of the course through the main streets of Playa Blanca (Yaiza).
The stages, clearly differentiated from each other and unrelated, began in the morning with the celebration of the II Carrera de Las Salinas. A time trial in which the handbikers had to cover the distance between the La Hoya roundabout, in Las Salinas, and the one at the entrance to Playa Blanca. The fastest was the Belgian Jonas Van de Steene from Team Feniks, completing the course in 11 minutes and 56 seconds, with an average of 42.69 km/h. The Frenchman Joel Jeannot was second, 4 seconds behind the winner, and the third place on the podium was occupied by the German Vico Merklein, 16 seconds behind the winner.
The German Christiane Reppe was once again the fastest, revalidating the title of the first edition by completing the section in 14 minutes and 41 seconds. The Russian Svetlana Moskovitch with a time of 15:23 was the second classified and the podium was completed with the third position of Sandra Stockli with a time of 15:58.
The handbikers regained prominence at the conclusion of the fourth edition of the Timanfaya Triathlon. The participants were grouped into teams, all with color names, and with similar characteristics to level them and that the numerous fans who gathered in the center of Playa Blanca enjoyed the spectacle offered by these daring athletes. Once again, the descent area towards the Los Limones roundabout was one of the most spectacular areas of the course and was where the largest number of people gathered to appreciate the high speeds reached by the handbikers.
The yellow team formed by Misha Hielkema (Netherlands), Tawfig Arifi (France), Bernd Ziegler (Germany) and Wobert Nowicki (Poland), were the winners of the VII Vuelta a Playa Blanca in Handbike by giving seven laps to the course. The second position was for the blue team that was integrated by the Germans Christoph Künstle and Patrick Gabriel and the Swiss Tobias Fankhauser and Cedric Kuster. And the third place was for the purple team, formed by the Germans Torben Bröer, Winni Sigg and Jürguen Döringer and the Slovenian David Razborsek.
The VII Vuelta a Playa Blanca in Handbike was attended by two Canary Islanders, Eduardo Martínez Ramos and Antonio Daniel Múller, who enjoyed the event and promised to return in future editions. Playa Blanca continues to be one of the central points of adapted sport in Europe, with handbikers choosing a unique event and having the possibility of carrying out a training stage in the middle of winter and with very pleasant temperatures.
The organization of the IV Timanfaya Triathlon and the VII Vuelta a Playa Blanca in Handbike was carried out by Trimakina together with the Yaiza City Council. With the collaboration of Turismo Lanzarote, Acttiv (Taking Fun Seriosly), H10 Hotels, Nutritraining, Fund Grube, Deportclinic, Más Deportes and Magma Bike.
