Cycling

The 50th leg of Romanias Cycling Tour or the Little Loop kick-started in Marghita.

Steliu Lambru, 03.07.2013, 13:48

The 50th leg of Romania’s Cycling Tour or the Little Loop kick-started on June the 30th in Marghita, a town in the northwestern Romanian county of Bihor. It was not without good reason that the event’s organizers picked up that departure point, since the town is home to the Belotto Cycling Wear, the textile factory which since 1994 has had a line for professional cyclists.

The competition in Romania is included in the International Cycling Union’s calendar; a maximum number of 17 teams are entitled to line up for the start, while the competition’s elite and under-23 versions can have between 4 and 6 cyclists in their teams. The overall length of the tour is 1,033 kilometers, while the total prize money up for grabs stands at 17, 543 Euros, of which 5, 845 Euros for the final general standings and 10, 818 Euros for the leg-by-leg awards, with 1,893 Euros at stake for each leg. The Tour’s final winner will cash a cheque of 2,200 Euros, the runner-up position will be awarded 1,250 Euros, while the third-placed cyclist will get 600 Euros. Also, the winner of the Romanian Cycling Tour will be given 40 International Cycling Union points, while the 8th-placed cyclist will have 8 points on his record sheet.

The Little Loop has now reached its 3rd leg, which is also the longest one. Cyclists will compete along a distance of 197,8 kilometers on a variegated route, with Bicaz as the departure point, a town in Romania’s Eastern Carpathians, and will be heading towards north-east, to the towns of Piatra Neamt, Roman, Tirgu Frumos, while the town of Botosani will be the event’s final destination. Ahead of the leg an 80 km long transshipment is scheduled, which will start from Miercurea Ciuc in Transylvania, heading towards the Moldavian town of Bicaz, which is the event’s starting point, technically speaking.

The podium has for quite some time seen an all-Ukrainian domination; wearing the yellow T-shirt is Vitali But, from Kolls, and following in descending order are Mihail Kononenko and Volodimir Zagorodnai. Wearing the green T-shirt, that of the climbers is the Spaniard Gonzali De La Parte from Tableware. Wearing the white T-shirt for pugnacity is the Greek George Boudas, while wearing the red T-shirt, that of the sprinters is Abel Kenyeres from Hungary. Wearing the blue T-shirt ,which usually goes to the best Romanian cyclist is Oleg Bedros, and the T-shirt for the best Under-23 Romanian cyclist is on Eduard Grosu. The Little Loop’s jubilee edition will draw to a close on July the 6th.