Press conference for the International Cycling Tour of Greece 2024 hosted by Larissa

They were joined by the representatives of the Municipalities through which the 120 athlete cyclists of the 20 teams that are participating in the Tour this year, and specifically the Deputy Mayors of Sports of the Municipalities:

Ellasonas Asterios Dimoulas,

Heraklis Gergiokas of Larisa and

Karditsa Panagiotis Efthymiou.

The Deputy Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis, noted the intention of the political leadership to upgrade this year’s Tour by including the two major urban centers of the country, namely Athens and Thessaloniki, but also by drawing a very careful racing route perfectly representative of the country’s geography.

“This is a huge sporting event, in an Olympic year, where Greece must be at the forefront of sports, twenty years after its own Olympic Games that enchanted the whole world!

The PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece 2024 is being upgraded, three years after its revival highlighting the beauties of the country as well as the monuments of its rich cultural heritage.

It is the choice of the Ministry of Sports to support major sports events, but also to support the Greek region. With the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece and the EKO Rally Acropolis, we seal our intention for sporting extroversion and continue energetically.

Our goal, with the rich and varied program of Parallel Actions, is the involvement of citizens in the sports culture of daily exercise, while at the same time we seek to promote the bicycle, as a means as it is completely in line with the modern imperatives of sustainable mobility and green development!

In Thessaly the Tour will pass with respect and sensitivity to the recently affected areas in order to stimulate the region and its inhabitants who love cycling so much.

We have raised the bar high overall for the event and I believe we will succeed!”.

The Regional Mayor of Thessaly, Dimitris Kouretas, underlined his own relationship with the bicycle, and how important he considers it to be spread as a means of movement and exercise and also to develop the sport of cycling.

“I have been a cyclist for many years. As soon as I heard from the people of the Cycling Greece organizing committee about their vision for the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece 2024, I was excited and immediately agreed for the Region of Thessaly to become an institutional co-organizer of the Tour.

According to international scientific research, cyclists are those who, compared to other athletes, are systematically engaged in their competition long after the end of their purely competitive activity! So this makes them healthier in the long run and according to the conclusions of all the studies, cyclists seem to have the longest average age!

It is clear to me that in the times we live in, cycling must have a leading role, especially as a form of gentle exercise for the population.

Major international events such as the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece stimulate people’s interest, and involve more people in a sports culture.

In the Region of Thessaly we know the benefits and have made cycling a way of life”.

The president of the organization Giorgos Leventakis and the Director of Marketing and Corporate Responsibility of Cycling Greece Takis Xouris thoroughly analyzed this year’s stages (race routes) stressing that “the bet of the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece is in a few years to have nothing to envy from the big and famous cycling tours around the world!”.

The Director of Parallel Actions, Thanos Georgiou, referred to the multitude of events (artistic, educational, cultural and sports) aimed at young and old in all cities

Detailed details of the events and also of the competition details on the website of the organization Hellas-tour.gr

For their part, the Deputy Mayors of Sports, Elassona, Larissa and Karditsa Mr. Dimoulas, Gergiokas and Efthymiou thanked the Deputy Minister Yannis Vroutsis for the constant support of the State in such an important institution, as the PPC International Cycling Tour of Greece is established and analyzed the actions of their Municipalities on the occasion of the passes of the race.

It is noteworthy that the preliminary actions of the Tour start tomorrow, Thursday, April 25, from Elassona with actions for road safety and the participation of a large number of students, but also with ecological actions such as tree planting in “I embrace my city, plant a tree”, which have prepare the staff of the Municipal Authority.