Record participation in Euskaltel-Euskadi's Fiesta

By Monika Prell

The fifth edition of Euskaltel-Euskadi's Fiesta de la Bici was a complete success. According to the team, 2015 people participated in the celebration that was held in front of the Euskaltel-Euskadi building in Derio (Bizkaia). The presence of the president of the Basque Government, Juan José Ibarretxe, two legends of cycling, Miguel Indurain and Claudio Chiappucci, and the entire squads of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Orbea-Laukiz F.T. and Naturgas Energia surely added to the high participation.

The Euskaltel-Euskadi cyclists and the invitees, together with the children of the Mountain Bike School of BTT Naturgas Txorierri, met at 10:00. The young and old fans had the possibility to take some photos of their heroes. After this reception, the Fundación Euskadi had organised a small ceremony in honour of Indurain and Chiappucci. Miguel Madariaga handed them a trophy in form of a Lauburu ('Basque cross') with the inscription "Los niños agradecen tu presencia" ('The children are thankful for your participation'). Ibarretxe was honoured by the Sindic de Val d'Aran de Lleida.

Shortly after, everybody got on their bikes and completed a little ride of eight kilometres through the Technological Parc of Zamudio. Sunny conditions helped to make this celebration a real success.