The EPIC Gran Canaria RIU Hotels & Resorts adds a new star to its lineup, CLAUDIO CHIAPPUCCI, who faced Miguel Induráin in his sporting career, joins the Gran Canaria challenge that is being held this weekend in the south of the island.
The EPIC Gran Canaria Riu Hotels & Resorts adds one more star to its squad of big names in this fifth edition, which will be held on 11 to 13 for February of 2022. Claudio Chiappucci joins the most popular cycle tour in Gran Canaria and continues to lead this test to a record with more than a dozen great athletes in its ranks.
Claudio Chiappucci, an Italian cyclist with a long professional career, stood out in the 80s and 90s under the nickname 'El Diavolo' with which he made Miguel Induráin sweat as a combative athlete on large climbs. He became known in the 1990 Tour de France and accumulated historical feats such as the 13th stage of the 1992 Tour de France, one of the toughest on the route and where he placed himself as one of the most brilliant climbers of the time in an epic race for professional cycling.
'El Diavolo' was one of Induráin's great rivals, he stood on the podium of the Giro and the Tour and was known and recognized as a 'brave' and daring athlete, becoming one of the great myths of cycling in the 90s.
Claudio Chiappucci will be accompanied at the EPIC Gran Canaria Riu Hotels & Resorts by several of the greats of this discipline, such as the two-time world champion Mario Cipollini, one of the fastest men in history, Fred rompelberg who held the record for 23 years, in addition to Haimar Zubeldia, Joseba Beloki, or the world champion abraham olano.
Platoon of greats already confirmed to face the Gran Canaria challenge, where the runner-up of the World Cup, cyclist from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the Giro d'Italia will also play their game on the pedals Davide rebel, who repeats in the test, the champion of Spain M30 Cyclocross, Martin Mata Cabello, and the Finnish champion Matti Helminen which will seek to revalidate its title at the EPIC Gran Canaria Riu Hotels & Resorts for the third consecutive year.
Registrations brought together more than 300 runners in the first 24 hours of registration, with participants from 15 nationalities different ones where there is no shortage of stars this year, becoming a meeting point for the greatest names in international cycling of all time.
Two stages and three times
The EPIC Gran Canaria Riu Hotels & Resorts will kick off with a previous day for professionals and cycling fans, with talks, conferences and debates that will serve as a warm-up for the first of the two stages of the event, with 115 kilometers and two timed sections and a second of 75 kilometers and a time trial.
The first stage starts from Maspalomas Dunes Viewpoint at the RIU Palace Maspalomas facilities, where the star event of the competition will kick off. Athletes will be able to enjoy one of the most popular cycling routes in Gran Canaria exclusively for the celebration of this test, a privileged circuit that will cover emblematic points such as the Dunes of Maspalomas Arteara, Fataga, Tirajana and El Pajar to Pasito Blanco.
The first timed section begins in Aqualand on the way to Ayagaures, with Pedro González at the top. It is a time trial 12,3 kilometers at 470 meters altitude, with a altitude of 460 meters and an average inclination of 4,4%. The second of the times starts from Pasito Blanco on its climb to Ayacata, with a 45 kilometers, 1.304 meters high and a slope of 1.038 meters with an average slope of 4,7%. This time trial runs through points such as El Pajar, Cercados de Espino, Soria, Barranquillo Andrés, the Las Niñas dam and ends at the top of Ayacata.
The second of the stages has a single timed section in its 75 kilometers, where cyclists face a time trial of 22 kilometers. The stage leaves the RIU Palace Maspalomas hotel towards the Mirador, passing through Fataga until Tirajana. This section is 925 meters high and a slope of 810 meters, with average slopes of 4%. After the timed section, the cyclists will descend back to the RIU Palace Maspalomas hotel with a tour of Santa Lucía, La Era, Vecindario, Doctoral and Bahía Feliz by the GC-65 and the GC-500.
Teamwork
For its V edition, the EPIC Gran Canaria Riu Hotels & Resorts is sponsored by RIU Hotel & Resorts, the City Council of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and Turismo Gran Canaria, and within the framework of the European Island project. Sport, AVIS Canarias, Coca Cola, AquaBona, Maspalomas24h, La Estrella, Sonocom, Free Motion, Phisiorelax, Esenat, Fund Grube.