Several of Europe’s top speedskaters are expected for the 18th edition of the Terras do Infante inline speedskating competition, which will take place in Lagos between Friday and Sunday (April 14-16).
The competition will act as the second stage of the European Cup of Inline Speedskating and will bring over 350 skaters from 21 countries to the Algarve.
On the men’s side, some names stand out such as Jhoan Guzman (Spain), a multi world and European champion; Ricardo Vergudo (Chile), a medallist at international and Pan-American tournaments; Patxi Peula (Spain), a former European and world champion who has won the Terras do Infante tournament five times; and former youth skating stars Pablo Serrano (Colombia) and Manuel Taibo (Spain).
The list of participating female skaters includes Aura Quintana (Colombia), a two-time Terras do Infante winner; Kelly Delgado (Colombia), a up-and-coming star; Fran Vanhoutte (Belgium), current bronze medallist at the Marathon of the 2022 World Championship; and Laura Lorenzatto (Italy), a European championship medallist in distance events.
Portugal will also be represented at the event, with national participants including Miguel Bravo, Marco Lira, Afonso Silva, António Freitas, João Branco, Jéssica Rodrigues, Francisca Henriques and Andreia Canha.
Winners in each of the tournament’s categories will receive €1,000 in prize money.
The tournament will take place on Friday and Saturday (April 14 and 15) at the Júlio Dantas secondary school track throughout the two days, while the final event will take place on Sunday between 8am and 1pm and will force the closure of some main streets and squares, such as Avenida dos Descobrimentos, Praça do Infante, the Continente roundabout, the roundabout accessing the EN125 road and A22 motorway and the local health centre roundabout.
The European Cup that the Terras do Infante competition is a part of is described as “a great series of track races in Europe.
“The idea of the European Cup is to have a series of track races in preparation of the European and World Championships,” organisers say.
