You may have sailed in the Posidonia yacht regatta, swung a club in the golf tournament, perhaps had a kickabout with colleagues in the soccer, or even flailed a racquet in the tennis tournament.
Now, next summer you have the chance to participate in a new sporting challenge in the warm-up to the world’s biggest shipping event: the Thermo 2024 cycle race across the Greek mountains.
The brainchild of Dimitris Nikolakis from Greek manager and owner Interunity, the event will take riders 80 km across the southern Pindos mountains west of Athens, with those who are strong enough also riding back for a total of 160 km.
With more than 4,000 metres of climbing on the full route, it will not be for the faint-hearted.
“It’s about pushing boundaries and building dreams,” Nikolakis told TradeWinds.
Several big shipping names have already signed up after entries opened at the weekend.
“We’re doing it to bring friends from shipping together and at the same time discover unknown parts of Greece while cycling,” Nikolakis said.
That’s why this first event on 1 June, organised with the help of IG Cycling, is not based in a big resort but in the small village of Thermo.
“For us doing the 160 km, it is very likely we will not encounter more than 10 to 20 cars along the route all day,” he said.
Sponsors include KPI Ocean Connect, the Marshall Islands Registry, Faros Marine Services and Cubic Marine Logistics.
Full details can be found at https://ig-cycling.com
