The eighth Sea Otter Europe Costa Brava-Girona by Continental festival, to be held in Girona from 20 to 22 September, was presented today with a further increase in space and exhibitors. For the first time, the number of 500 brands from all over the world will be exceeded, consolidating the event as a major attraction for the cycling industry and its fans. The festival represents the cross-cutting nature of the cycling world and all its aspects: urban, sport, industry, professional sector, fans, consumers, sporting events, technology and much more.
One of the major novelties is that a UCI World Gravel Series event will be held there, with the last qualifying race before the World Championship of the speciality, which is to be held in Flanders (Belgium) in October. Thus, the best male and female cyclists in the world in this discipline will meet in Girona to tackle a demanding 111 km course. The Gravel races have always been one of the most successful in all the editions of the Sea Otter Europe cycling festival, having been fully booked on several occasions. The Gravel Ride Tour Girona, open to amateur cyclists, will also be held on this occasion, with a race that runs through the best of Girona’s natural environment and is of a very suitable distance for beginners in this discipline.
These two Gravel races are part of a comprehensive programme with around fifteen sporting events in all disciplines (MTB, road, E-Bike, urban and trial) and in different categories, such as the spectacular Short Track or Eliminator. It is a varied programme for everyone, with races for all categories, both for amateurs and top professionals, who will come to Girona to compete for points in the state and European MTB championships. In terms of spectators, the most popular races will be the Ciclobrava by Orbea (road cycling with three distances of 70, 100 and 150 km), the Canyon Marathon Cup MTB and the Gravel Ride Tour Girona.
A new venue for the presentation of cycle tourism destinations
Another new feature of this year’s edition will be the Costa Brava Pirineu Auditorium in Girona, designed to host presentations on cycle tourism. Open to the general public at Sea Otter Europe, this open-air venue will host a programme of short presentations by exhibitors, destinations and tourism products related to cycling. This venue complements the Sea Otter Connect event, which after last year’s success is being reinforced with new professional days and networking space, a platform for professionals in the sector to discuss and analyse key business strategies in the bicycle industry and its future.
A new socio-economic cluster to promote health through cycling
This new Sea Otter Europe festival will feature the presentation of the ‘Girona Innovació Salut Ciclisme’ (GISC) project, a socio-economic cluster that seeks to promote health through cycling, led by Girona City Council. This cluster brings together companies from the cycling and health sectors, technology companies and public authorities, with the aim of integrating recreational and sports cycling with sustainable mobility, health, wellbeing and innovation.
The Urban Mobility Festival’s offer is growing
In addition to the extensive sports and activities programme, there is a growing Euro Mobility Festival, which is strengthening its commitment to offering an exclusive space for the whole range of sustainable mobility, with new players entering the scene: Bikes, technology, city design… With this strategic commitment, the Euro Mobility Festival aims to be the catalyst for the transformation that cities like Girona are undergoing around the world, promoting new models of more efficient transport and bringing their drivers into contact with the industry that designs products and services that are increasingly adapted to a new, more environmentally friendly mobility. To encourage visitors to come by bicycle, the festival will have a large, secure and free bicycle parking area.
Sustained growth of the Demobike event
Once again, the Demobike activity is one of the main attractions of the festival, and this year up to 35 brands will offer more than a thousand bikes of different models and sizes to try out. For the brands, which come from all over the world, there is no better sales action than a user being able to try the bikes for free, and that’s why they’ll be bringing the largest number of bikes of all kinds: road, gravel, mountain, enduro, electric, urban, etc.
The presentation of the eighth edition of Sea Otter Europe was held today at Girona Provincial Council, in an event attended by the President of Girona Provincial Council, Miquel Noguer, the Deputy Mayor of Girona, Gemma Geis, and the director of the cycling festival, Albert Balcells.
Access to the festival will be by means of a free ticket that can be obtained through the Sea Otter Europe website, while registration for the races is still open at www.seaottereurope.com
