The best rider from America in the world road ranking, the Cuban Arlenis Sierra (Movistar Team) leads the riders from America in the seventh Tour of Valencia, from February 16 to 19, a 2.1 test organized in the Valencian Community by the Club Escape cyclist and included in the European calendar of the International Cycling Union (UCI).
For the Cuban, this will be her second competition of the season after finishing fourth in the Women’s Cycling Classic of Almería 2023, in Spain; while within the large squad of 23 national teams or teams there will be Americans, Canadians, Colombians, Chileans and Brazilians, without the record of the West Indian, but still with professional contracts.
Teams from four continents will participate in the competition: Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. Twelve teams will have the UCI WorldTour category and a total of 161 cyclists have registered. The participation of Annemiek van Vleuten, winner of the last two editions and world champion, and the Valencian cyclists Sofia Rodríguez, Alba Teruel, Paula Soler and Sandra Alonso stand out.
The mayor of Sagunto, Darío Moreno; the councilor for Physical Activity, Health and Sports, Javier Timón and the president of the Escapada Cycling Club and technical director of the Vuelta, Rubén Donet, were present at the presentation of the event at the Sagunto City Hall, where Moreno stated that “we are talking about an event that for us has a special meaning. The Sports department has been working for years to defend women’s sports and this is basic work and we are working along these lines with all the local clubs”.
Likewise, he commented that “it is also important that with the events that we have of greater scope, nationally and internationally, we are interested in encouraging top-level events in the women’s sphere. This competition goes far beyond our city and is positive in many aspects for our municipality”.
The Tour of Valencia will consist of four online stages. Sagunto will be the goal of the first stage, which will begin in Valencia around 1:30 p.m. on the afternoon of February 16. As in previous editions, the race will once again be present in the three provinces of the community: Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.
Javier Timón, Councilor for Physical Activity, Health and Sports, stressed that “one more year our City Council participates in this magnificent event and there are already six editions of the seven that will be held.”
To which he added that “It is one of the most important women’s events on the international calendar, which once again visits our land, where cycling has been deeply rooted for a long time.”
Likewise, he wanted to value the work for “equality, something that we share with the organization of this event, for what it means in terms of providing references to our girls, young people and women.” Lastly, he thanked the organization for having Sagunto once again, since “as we saw in the release of the last edition, he massively supports this type of event.”
Rubén Donet also commented that “the event has been upgraded to the UCI ProSeries category, ensuring the participation of the best riders and best teams in the world.” He has taken the opportunity to thank the collaboration of the City Council: “Thanks to this support we have managed together to consolidate an event that is a benchmark worldwide.”