This April, a selection of the riders set to line up at this year’s Giro d’Italia will head to Cyprus for a high altitude training camp, organised in conjunction with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the Cyprus Cycling Federation.
The team has previously trained at various locations around Europe and further afield, but the Cyprus location has the potential to offer a perfect training environment – with quiet roads, well-developed infrastructure, varied terrain and tailored accommodation at over 1,800m altitude.
Rafal Majka will lead the team at the 99th Giro d’Italia this year and will be joined in Cyprus, from April 3 – 16, by Manuele Boaro, Jay McCarthy, Pawel Poljanski and Ivan Rovny.
Tinkoff’s General Manager, Stefano Feltrin, helped orchestrate the new training location and was full of praise for the island that the riders will be training on. “We’re really pleased to be starting this collaboration with the island of Cyprus and the Cyprus Cycling Federation as it will provide us with ideal conditions to prepare as a team for races like the Giro. The well-known tourist island already boasts excellent infrastructure, good road conditions and world-class hotels – all of which are important aspects when we look at training locations. With the mountain ranges on the island we can do some serious mountain training sessions to get us ready for the tough stages that we face at the Giro.
“The warm, dependable climate that the island offers will allow us to train there at any time of the year, which is a big factor for us. We not only hope that it can become a long-term base for training camps, but together with the Cyprus Cycling Federation we hope that we can help to further develop their facilities and training options for all cyclo tourists.”
George Apostolou, Vice President of the Cyprus Cycling Federation, expressed the island’s pleasure in having the team training on its roads. “CCF’s Vision for 2020 involves the promotion and development of cycling as a core life skill for everyone on the island, irrespective of age or gender. In implementing that Vision, the CCF had the inspiring idea last year to propose to the Cyprus Tourism Organisation the invitation of Tinkoff, one of the very best WorldTour professional cycling teams competing at the highest international level of the sport of cycling, with the aim of having the team become closely associated with Cyprus as one of its basic training grounds every year.
“The CCF and the CTO are hoping that Cyprus’ association with and facilitation of Tinkoff to travel to and train in Cyprus, will have a major beneficial effect and impact in attracting international cycling tourism, such as amateur cyclists who may wish to travel to Cyprus and take their families on holiday there so as to enjoy the beauties of the island of Cyprus and at the same time do their cycling on the same roads where their idols train as well. In turn, it is intended that the emblematic and symbolic presence of Tinkoff on the island will inspire thousands living on Cyprus itself to take up cycling both as a sport and as a leisure activity, developing and furthering, in this way, cycling on the island as well.”
“It is a great honour for Cyprus to have been chosen as a training venue by one of the best WorldTour professional cycling teams in the world,” said Mrs Annita Demetriades, Acting Director General of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation. “CTO is hosting this training camp within the framework of its efforts to further promote and establish Cyprus as an international cycling destination.
“We are confident that the training camp will be a great success and will mark the beginning of a long term and fruitful relationship with the team and its world-class cyclists.”
