The Fred. Olsen Express Transgrancanaria Bike opens registrations for its debut as a UCI race.

The mountain bike race extends its duration to four stages with more than 160 timed kilometres.

The event will offer a 30€ discount to the Canary residents. 

The Fred. Olsen Express Transgrancanaria Bike 2023 is already underway. The mountain bike race that debuts its inclusion in the calendar of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has opened the registrations for the seventh edition, which extends its duration to four stages to be held between 18th and 21st of May. The race, organised by Arista Eventos, will have more than 160 timed kilometres.

The competition, which has the support of the Tourism and Sports Departments of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the San Bartolomé de Tirajana Town Hall, will start on Thursday with a 16 kilometre chrono between the municipalities of Telde and Valsequillo. On the second day, the cyclists will travel to Artenara to cover a 35 kilometre circular circuit. On Saturday, El Garañón will be the starting point for the third stage with a 50 kilometre route that will finish in Cercados de Araña. The race will end in Parque Sur de Maspalomas with another 60 kilometre circular route.

The Councillor for Tourism of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Carlos Álamo, points out that the celebration of this new edition of the Transgrancanaria Bike “is a reason for joy since this type of proposal is essential for any quality tourist destination and of course it is an obligation for a destination like Gran Canaria, for all the natural and scenic potential that it brings together, and the immense possibilities that exist around active tourism: a real take-off, which already existed but which is especially intense after the pandemic limitations in our lives”. Álamo emphasises that “today Gran Canaria is also known for its sporting appeal, especially for the possibilities for mountain biking and mountain races”, thanks to the fact that “currently, the leisure tourism on offer in our natural areas has gone from being a complement to being one of the main attractions of our island”.

Francisco Castellano, Sports Councillor of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, comments: “We are so happy to host a new edition of the Transgrancanaria Bike, which is the perfect showcase for our island. A year in which, in addition, it becomes the only UCI event in the archipielago, which means that a greater number of international participants will visit Gran Canaria, giving greater value to the European Island of Sport”. The Councillor added that “from the Department of Sports of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria we will continue to work and support sporting events like this, that help to take the name of the island around the world” and to ensure that the next edition of the Transgrancanaria Bike “is a success and a world-class event”.

Fernando González, CEO of Arista Eventos, highlights the importance of Transgrancanaria Bike’s incorporation into the UCI. “During the first editions we have established ourselves among the insular and regional public, and now we are making the international leap by entering the UCI calendar”. With this achievement “we aspire to place Gran Canaria and the Canary Islands within the elite mountain bike programming worldwide”. For González, one of the keys of this race is that “it offers a climate that provides security, so that it can be held without cancellations”; and he gave as an example its sister in mountain races, the Transgrancanaria, “which in 20 years has been the only race on the international calendar that has not had to be cancelled in any edition”. The CEO of Arista Eventos says that the cyclists will be offered “many services to make them feel at home in Gran Canaria”.

The organisation, in its aim to promote the sports activities in the Archipielago, offers a 30% discount on the registration of all the Canary residents. In addition, in order to make the logistics of the participants easier, they offer different services such as the transfer of bicycles or the mechanics during the race, as well as an accommodation pack for the cyclists that travel from outside the island.

The registrations are open in this webpage esta página web. The participants who wants to take part in just one of the stages can register in the last of the four stages, a 60 kilometres route that starts from Parque Sur de Maspalomas and goes through the south of Gran Canaria until it returns to the starting point, where it will take place the ceremony of the most important ,mountain bike event in the Canary Islands.

The Transgrancanaria Bike has the main sponsorship of Fred Olsen Express and the support of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria through the institutions Turismo de Gran Canaria and Gran Canaria Isla Europea del Deporte, Maspalomas Costa Canaria and Ayuntamiento de Artenara. The race also has the collaboration of the companies Ahembo, Emicela, Fuente Umbría, Provital, Chronorace, Gofio La Piña and Inerza.