The III Escambray Mountain Bike Challenger 2024 will take place from January 24 to 28 with a 185-kilometer route and four stages through rugged and beautiful landscapes in the state of Espiritu.
The competitors are scheduled to arrive in the city of Sancti Spíritus on January 24, where the technical meeting will take place at five in the afternoon.
One day later, the peloton, which is expected to be made up of more than 40 riders, will start the first stage from the capital of Yayabo, a 40-kilometer ride to the community of El Cacahual.
On January 26, the second stage will be held, a 35 km stretch from this site located on the slopes of the Guamuhaya hill to the La Hormiga campground.
The queen stage will be on the 27th, starting at La Hormiga and finishing 65 kilometers later at the Topes de Collantes massif, a superb climb that is even more agonizing because it climbs up an embankment route.
A different ending will characterize the closing of this edition on the 28th, since the 45 km route will be from the iconic peak of the Sierra del Escambray to the historic center of the municipality of Trinidad, a national monument, and not at the Ancon beach as in the two previous years.
More than 20 cyclists have registered for this challenge, among them world-class Ecuadorian Jorge Brito, runner-up in the elite category in the first edition (2022), and the 2023 starter, Brayan Mandín from El Espiritu.
Cuba’s Olga Echenique, a resident of Spain, will make her debut on this occasion. She was seen winning among women during the I Titan Tropic de Mountain Bike 2015, disputed north of Pinar del Rio. She participated in the difficult Titan Desert of Morocco, in 2016, and in the Ruta Conquistadores of Costa Rica.
Among the foreigners registered are also the Argentinean Juan García Casatti, in the Master B category, and the Ecuadorian Gimy Jimpikit, in the A category.
Jorge Rojas, head of the organizing committee and outstanding competitor of the Manigüeros club, told JIT that this year the level of the competition must be surpassed, since the most outstanding mountaineers of the country are expected in the different groups: elite, youth, under-23, women and masters A, B and C.
The Escambray Challenger, although financed by the competitors themselves, has the support of the management of Inder in Sancti Spíritus and the companies Islazul, Gaviota and Campismo Popular.
The professionalism in the organization and the combativeness and dedication of the participants from different clubs in the country give it prestige.
