São Paulo, Brazil - The 2015 Brasil Ride starting signal is less than ten days away. Between October 17th to 24th, the Chapada Diamantina (Bahia) will host athletes from 18 countries for the sixth edition of the most important MTB ultramarathon of the Americas. The competitors list of approximately 500 athletes features big names in the MTB World, such as 1996 Olympic champion Bart Brentjens (NED), Salzkammergut Trophy (considered the hardest ultramarathon in the world) champion Matthias Leisling (GER) and previous Brasil Ride champions like Hans Becking (HOL), Jiri Novak (REP), Luís Leão Pinto (POR), Nina Baum (USA) and Ivonne Kraft (ALE).
Brazilian Olympic and Marathon MTB champions are among the Brazilian field challenging for the title. Abraão Azevedo, Henrique Avancini, Ricardo Pscheidt, Frederico Mariano and Halysson Ferreira will face the hills between Mucugê and Rio das Contas. The Brazilian women will be represented by Isabella Lacerda, Raiza Goulão and Viviane Favery.
In addition to the high-performance athletes, the race will feature Brazilian auto racing stars Christian Fittipaldi and Geraldo Piquet. Fittipaldi will compete in the Master category with Odair Pereira. Piquet will race in the Open category with Guilherme Tom Faria. "The Piquet family enjoy motor sports, both car and motorcycle. For now, I'm the only one who is invested in cycling. But I will always be an amateur in sports. This is my hobby and not my profession", said Geraldo Piquet.
Fittipaldi is the only Brazilian pilot to compete in three of the main categories of auto racing: Formula 1, Champ Car and NASCAR Winston Cup. His expectations are high for the 2015 edition of Brasil Ride. "This year will be our third time together, Odair and me. But its our first in the Master category. I think the fact that we pedal together is an advantage. We already know each other and we know the most inaccessible places; where we can take more risks, balance our intensity and decide where we can speed up. It is easier for us to deal with situations such as intense heat, for example. We are confident we will obtain a satisfactory result."
Always raced in duos, Brasil Ride will once again feature seven categories: Open, Women, Mixed, Master (no athlete under 40 years can participate), Grand Masters (no athlete under 50 years is allowed in this category), Nellore (the athlete needs to weight more than 90 kg) and Corporate (three members category). In addition, we will also offer the special cycling Jersey for the American Continent's best teams of both, men and women.
Confirmed countries - Athletes from 18 countries and three continents (America, Europe and Africa) will be in Chapada Diamantina. The countries are: South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Slovenia, Spain, USA, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and Uruguay. There are volunteers from Brazil, Costa Rica, USA, Netherlands and Paraguay.
Brasil Ride videos - We will provide daily footages for upload. From October 18th to 25th, always at 9am, there will be an Up Link's to be downloaded in high resolution. For more information, please contact the press office at redacao@zdl.com.br.
Attention: During the event, text, photos and videos will be available to all media daily. For media enquiries and image requests, please contact
redacao@zdl.com.br or +55.11.98783 7408.
Brasil Ride 2015 Stages
1st stage: October 18 - 13h
20 km prologue with start and finish line in Mucugê
2nd stage: October 19 - 6h
147 km between Mucugê and Rio de Contas
3rd stage: October 20 - 10h
34,5 km in Rio de Contas
4th stage: October 21 - 8h
84,7 km in Rio de Contas
5th stage: October 22 - 7h
94,7 km in Rio de Contas
6th stage: October 23 - 6h
143,4 km between Rio de Contas and Mucugê
7th stage: October 24 - 9h
72,1 km in Mucugê
Brasil Ride 2015 its a realization of SUDESB, Bahiatursa, Governo da Bahia and Ministério do Esporte
Sponsorship: Shimano, Trek and Caixa
Co-Sponsorship: Thule, Pearl Izumi and Oakley.
Support: Continental Pneus, Red Bull, GU, Muc-Off and Prefeitura de Rio de Contas
Supervision: UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), CBC (Confederação Brasileira de Ciclismo) and FBC (Federação Baiana de Ciclismo)
Organization: REC, Roma Comunicação and Prefeitura de Mucugê.
"Brasil Ride: More then a race, a stage in your life"
Website: http://www.BRASILRIDE.COM.BR
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BRASILRIDE
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brasil_ride
Instagram: https://instagram.com/brasilride
Gustavo Coelho / Doro Jr. - Mtb 13209
E-mail: gustavo@zdl.com.br / dorojr@zdl.com.br
Phone: +55 11 32855911 / Cel lphone: + 55 11 9.9178-4055
Follow ZDL in twitter: twitter.com/ZDLcomunica
and in facebook ZDL Comunicação
