Sports Minister Novak: L'Etape Romania by Tour de France cycling event gives us a taste of Tour de France
Sports Minister Eduard Novak welcomed Bucharest's hosting of the first edition of the L'Etape Romania by Tour de France cycling competition (August 27-28), which places Romania among the 21 nations that organize this year this highly popular event for both amateur and professional riders.
"I am very proud over this event, this beautiful country deserves a high-magnitude event, of course. This competition gives us a taste of the Tour de France and we, cyclists, can say that we live a dream turned to reality. You have probably noticed from my statements that I am an advocate of bringing the Tour de France or the start thereof to Romania, and cycling is indeed the sport that promotes, unites nations, countries and languages, and through cycling we all speak the same language of sport. Cycling is in fact a promoter of countries, ethnicities, sports, and it is not by mere coincidence that Eurosport broadcasts over 200 days of cycling a year. We, cyclists - and now I speak on behalf of the rider who has spent more than 20 years in the saddle and knows this sport in and out - are very happy with this project, and through the Sports Ministry stand by all the initiatives whereby we can promote our country, sport and performance,'' Minister Eduard Novak declared at the French Embassy in Bucharest, the host of the launch of the L'Etape Romania by Tour de France project.
The event's organizer in Romania is Media Production Group (MPG), holder of the franchise for "L'Etape by Tour de France" from Tour de France organizer Amaury Sport Organization.
President of the Romanian Cycling Federation, Alex Ciocan, opined that this event will be highly beneficial for Romanian cycling and voiced his hope that it will attract as many participants as possible: "I think it is an extremely, extremely beneficial event for Romania, for Bucharest and particularly for Romanian cycling. I would have loved to still be a performance cyclist and participate, even if it is a mass event. I raced in L'Etape du Tour in France, four years ago, it was great, with 13,000 participants, I think this event has a huge potential in Romania, perhaps not with 13,000 bikers, but MPG is capable of attracting almost 10,000 in the next few years.''
Stages of the event took place this year in Indonesia, Mexico, Bolivia and Thailand, and the calendar also includes countries such as the Czech Republic, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Australia and Canada. AGERPRES (RO - author: Teodor Ciobanu, editor: Mihai Tenea; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)
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