International Cycling Tour of Hellas to Shine Spotlight on Many Greek Cities

Photo source: @International Tour of Hellas

Greece’s International Cycling Tour will revive in April after 10 years of absence, Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis announced earlier this week.

The tour’s 19th edition will start from Crete on April 26 and wrap up after five stages in Ioannina, western Greece.

Participants will pass through nine Greek cities: Heraklion, Chania, Athens, Itea, Delphi, Karditsa, Larissa, Meteora (Kalambaka) and Ioannina.

According to Avgenakis, the tour’s five stages have been carefully designed to showcase the beauty of Greece’s mainland destinations.

“Our aim is to showcase unknown and remote regions of Greece, and further expand the cycling tour in the near future,” he said in video message.

The five stages of the International Cycling Tour are the following:

1. April 27: Heraklion – Rethymnon – Chania, 196.9km
2. April 28: Athens (Marousi) – Itea, 165km
3. April 29: Delphi – Lamia – Karditsa, 170,7km
4. April 30: Karditsa – Plastira Lake – Larissa, 176,5km
5. May 1: Meteora (Kalambaka) – Ioannina, 154,5km

Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis at the Greek Bike Museum. Photo source: @Greek Bike Museum

Avgenakis also aspires to turn the cycling tour into one of the world’s most significant cycling events that will bring multiple benefits to local communities.

“We pledge to create an event that will enhance Greece’s tourism industry but also entertain and educate Greeks on this exciting sport event. All cities included in the peloton will soon reap the fruits – tourism-wise – of this great event,” he said.

The tour will include a number of parallel events related to cycling and its positive environmental footprint.

Lefteris Avgenakis offers a detailed presentation of the five stages of the International Cycling Tour of Hellas in the following video: