Volta ao Algarve quer aumentar a notoriedade da região mostrando o seu património

The 43rd Volta ao Algarve, which runs from the 15th to the 19th of February, wants to be more than a sporting event and show both the landscapes and the region's historical heritage. The big news are the live television broadcasts of the last hour of each stage, on Eurosport, which will take the race to 55 countries, and on TVI24, a way of «multiplying the Algarve's notoriety», believes Delmino Pereira, president of Portuguese Cycling Federation. The former cyclist, who attended the presentation of the Algarve, held today, January 31, at the building of the Algarve Tourism Region (RTA) in Faro, revealed that this year the budget for the race «doubled» for values ​​close to «600 thousand euros». As for the issue of heritage, Delmino Pereira said that the event was designed with “tourist objectives”, wanting to show “all that the Algarve is: the mountains, the coast, the cities, the Guadiana River, but also the monuments”. With regard to the squad, the president of the Portuguese Federation said that this year "there is a greater suit of sprinters and time trial", and "in relation to long distance runners we have specialists in five-day races". Delmino Pereira, despite having revealed that he is "hoped" that the Volta a Algarve will be the "launching pad for a figure of the time", pointed out two names of possible winners: Luis León Sánchez, from Astana, and Michal Kwiatkowski, from Sky. Desidério Silva, president of RTA, assured that he is very happy not only for the realization of the Volta, “but for the Algarve”. This is because the fact that this competition already has assured television transmission, which has not happened since 2012, will make "the perception that people have of the region is much higher", he considered. This topic was also addressed by Luís Piçarra, production director of the Eurosport channel, who revealed that «for many years» that this television chair «wanted to have the Volta ao Algarve». “Cycling is also entertainment because of the landscapes and the Algarve is beautiful,” he added. Luís Piçarra also guaranteed that the Algarve, which will always be broadcast at the end of the afternoon, will have a «repetition in prime time», since at the time of the day «normally people are still working». Regarding the investment, Jorge Botelho, president of AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve, said that in the municipality he also presides over (Tavira), which will be the stage for the arrival of the 4th stage, this «grows 80%» compared to the past . The "substantial effort" was extended to the other Chambers with the majority "doubling the share," he added. Desidério Silva revealed, in this sense, that RTA "assumed a budget of 150 thousand euros for the production of content and transmission of Eurosport", while the Associação Turismo do Algarve, which was represented by the president Carlos Luís , collaborated with another 150 thousand euros. These values, even so, will have "a brutal return", in the words of the president of the RTA. This happens, too, because «without the transmission, the runners, for the year, would go to other laps with more visibility», he considered. Custódio Moreno, regional director of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ), recognized, in turn, that «the beauty of cycling is undeniable, but so is the beauty of the Algarve». As for the future, Desidério Silva said that as long as he is president of the RTA "there will be no other way" to carry out the Volta ao Algarve, as this year's model required "a great struggle", in terms of money, to be able to "guarantee a contract with Eurosport and with whoever produces the content”.

Source:  http://www.sulinformacao.pt