Round 1 of Angol Racing Cup brought together more than 180 exponents of downhill biking
The event was held at CMPC Junquillar Park in Angol of the Araucanía Region, bringing together renowned athletes in the sport and their families. Hans Pulgar and Antonia Sealzer were the winners.
Challenging the trails of the CMPC Junquillar Park, Round 1 of the Angol Racing Cup jumped to life in a competition that took place over the weekend. It began on Saturday, September 30, with a series of training and classification to culminate on Sunday, October 1 in an exciting grand finale.
The Angol Racing Cup winning men were Hans Pulgar in first with a time of 02:19, Felipe Benavides at 02:21, and Felipe Lastra in third at 02:22. As for the women’s category, Antonia Saelzer won first place with 02:46, Valentina Benavides second place with 02:53, and third went to Paula Jara at 02:59 minutes.
Roberto Martínez, Head of the CMPC Territorial Relations Department in Angol, highlighted the importance of enjoying the outdoors and doing sports surrounded by nature, “Being able to promote Angol as the capital of bike riding sports is very important to us. Living Forest’s aim is to link with the community of the region so they can enjoy the trails available for hiking, trail running and mountain biking, thus encouraging outdoor recreation, getting out of the house, and leaving the electronic devices behind.”
For Diego Iturrieta, a member of the Angol Racing Cup organization, great changes in the area have been happening since last year brought about by the care and maintenance of the CMPC Junquillar Park of the CMPC Living Forests network, motivating riders from different regions. “With this downhill mountain biking event, we hope that future generations will be able to participate in this sport, make meaningful progress, and reach higher levels in Chile. The opening of this park in Angol has been a great option. They’ve been planning and opening up spaces in novel ways, making room for both children and older riders. Many of us in Angol are very motivated by sports, which has been increasing and promises to turn Angol into a tourist and sports destination.”
The top racer who took Round 1 in Angol was Hans Pulgar, a Novena Racing rider who said, “I’m from Collipulli, so I was born riding a bike in Angol. I’ve always trained here. The park is very good. I felt very comfortable on the track and was able to make a good descent. You can see that the guys here are growing as an organization and the race is being talked about nationally. I hope this sport continues to have a great future and to motivate today’s kids to join in. It should be noted that every day you see more children riding bicycles, and parks are a tremendous place to train and develop as an athlete.”
Antonia Saelzer, a multi-bike specialized rider, was the fastest of the women. “Angol is always enjoyable. The tracks are very technical with a lot of curves, so you have to plan the route well to get a good time. It was a great day for the race weather-wise. I’ve been racing for 20 years, and Angol is always going to be a destination for this sport,” she said.
CMPC Junquillar Park: outdoor living
Located 3.5 kilometers from the Plaza de Angol, the CMPC Junquillar Park has a large conservation area, where about 90% of the property is made up of native tree forests, which runners and families got to enjoy during Round 1 of the Angol Racing Cup.
