- The eighth edition of this road safety program that has reached 10 Spanish localities this year was presented this morning.
- Since it began in 2011, over 800 schools have participated in this corporate social responsibility initiative.
- Present at the event were representatives from the Sports Council’s Young Sports Foundation, La Vuelta, the Directorate General of Traffic, the Professional Cyclists Association and Cofidis.
The presentation of the eighth edition of La Vuelta Junior Cofidis, an educational and sporting project driven by the financial credit institution, was held this morning in the Road Safety School in the San Sebastián de los Reyes Town Hall. This initiative also has the collaboration of the Sports Council’s Young Sports Foundation, La Vuelta, the Professional Cyclists Association and the Directorate General of Traffic. Many of the program’s new developments were revealed during the event, which will feature the participation of 25,000 children between the ages of 8 and 12, who have received training in road safety and healthy lifestyle habits, as well as advice for riding their bikes. This eighth edition of La Vuelta Junior will take place in 10 localities: Alhaurín de la Torre (Málaga), Málaga, Roquetas de Mar (Almería), San Javier (Murcia), Almadén (Ciudad Real), Fermoselle (Zamora), Luintra (Ourense), Torrelavega (Cantabria), Lleida and Madrid.
Also, a selection of around 150 students from each municipality will have the opportunity of completing the final kilometre of the corresponding La Vuelta stage that finishes in each locality, thus having a unique experience and feeling like professional cyclists for one day thanks to La Vuelta Junior Cofidis. This initiative has already featured the participation of over 200,000 children and 800 educational centres since it began in 2011. Event attendees included Yolanda Llorente, the Manager of the Cofidis Brand in Spain; Alfonso Jiménez, General Director of the Sports Council’s Young Sports Foundation; Narciso Romero, Mayor of San Sebastián de los Reyes; Javier Guillén, Director of La Vuelta; José Luis de Santos, President of the Professional Cyclists Association, and Mónica Colás, General Deputy Director for Training and Road Safety Education in the Directorate General of Traffic.
SUPPORTING CHILDREN’S SPORTS
Narciso Romero, Mayor of San Sebastián de los Reyes welcomed those in attendance and was “thrilled to host this initiative. In the San Sebastián de los Reyes Town Hall, we support road safety training and education regarding healthy lifestyle habits, something truly essential for children”. On her part, the Manager of the Cofidis Brand in Spain, Yolanda Llorente, highlighted that “we need for sports and healthy living to stop being just catch phrases and actually become a real description of our youth and our society”, while also reaffirming Cofidis’ commitment to cycling and its values, such as “team work, respect and effort”.
Javier Guillén, Director of La Vuelta, stated: “we at La Vuelta firmly support this initiative which has already allowed, and will continue to allow, bringing thousands of children and cycling closer together”. “It is essential to include the road safety training, so that they know how to co-exist with other vehicles”, said José Luis de Santos, President of the Professional Cyclists Association (PCA). In this sense, Mónica Colás, General Deputy Director for Training and Road Safety Education in the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) stressed the institution’s commitment “to promoting the safe practice of cycling, a means of transport that is becoming more and more widespread in our society”. The Director General of the Sports Council’s Young Sports Foundation, Alfonso Jiménez, brought the interview segment to a close, manifesting “the complete involvement of the Young Sports Foundation in this type of projects that contribute towards promoting physical activity and sporting values among today’s youth”.
The event also featured the attendance of the ex-cyclist and current La Vuelta technical director, Fernando Escartín, as well as Luis Ángel Maté, a Cofidis team cyclist, and Diego Rubio, a professional cyclist from the BH Burgos team, who participated in one of the La Vuelta Junior Cofidis editions. They all spoke of their personal experiences and stressed the importance of bringing awareness to the young regarding the co-existence of bikes and other vehicles.
