MTB Morvedre mountain bike race brings around 100 cyclists to Sagunto on Sunday
About 100 cyclists will set off this Sunday, 20 September, from Plaza Cronista Chabret for the 41-kilometre XXIV MTB Morvedre mountain bike race, with Sierra Calderona Natural Park as the toughest part of the route.
The 24th MTB Morvedre mountain bike race will set off this Sunday, 20 September, at 9am from Plaza Cronista Chabret in Sagunto, with around 100 cyclists ready to complete a 41-kilometre circular route with 800 metres of climbing. The race, organised by the MTB Morvedre cycling club and sponsored by Sagunto City Council, once again turns the heart of the city into the start and finish line for one of the best-established cycling events on the Camp de Morvedre (comarca, or district) calendar.
There is still time to sign up: registration costs €20 through the Sportmaniacs website, or it can be done in person on Sunday morning at Plaza Cronista Chabret before 8am, for €25. According to the registration platform's own figures, sign-ups had closed with 68 riders registered, out of a maximum limit of 200 set by the organisers. That means there is still room for the final number of riders to grow well beyond the roughly 100 mentioned in the council's announcement, especially once same-day, on-the-spot sign-ups are counted.
The route leaves Sagunto heading towards Petrés and Gilet, follows the Palancia river, and joins the Vía Verde de Ojos Negros (Ojos Negros Greenway) before entering Sierra Calderona Natural Park, where riders face the toughest sections of the day: Mola de Segart, Pico del Águila, Peña de Guita and Pico Aguacate. That stretch of greenway is part of a much longer, 182.2-kilometre trail, built along the route of a former mining railway that for decades carried iron ore from the Ojos Negros mines, in the province of Teruel, down to the Sagunto coast. That industrial past now serves as a green corridor used for cycling and hiking across much of the comarca.
The race is split into three categories — Gravel, MTB (mountain bike) and E-Bike — designed for riders on conventional mountain bikes as well as those who prefer gravel bikes or electric assistance. New this year, every registered rider will get a towel at the finish, while podium finishers in each category will also receive a Mercedes-Benz cap, a new sponsor prize introduced for this edition.
At the finish line, organisers have set up a shower area so participants can freshen up before heading home, along with hot grilled sandwiches and drinks to help riders recover. Completing the route at a leisurely touring pace, and given the climbing involved once the course enters Sierra Calderona, can easily take riders over three hours.
Events like this one are part of the regular calendar of cycle-touring races that clubs such as MTB Morvedre hold throughout the year across Camp de Morvedre, making use of both the flat, traffic-free stretches of the Vía Verde de Ojos Negros and the technical mountain trails of Sierra Calderona. These two very different settings are often combined in the comarca's races precisely because of that contrast between easy, comfortable riding and demanding physical effort. That dual character — part gentle greenway ride, part mountain climb — helps explain why the race appeals to such a wide range of cyclists, from people attempting their first cycle-touring event to riders who regularly compete in mountain-bike races.
The MTB Morvedre race adds to the calendar of mountain sports events that make use of Camp de Morvedre's natural surroundings, with Sierra Calderona a regular venue for local clubs and cycling fans. For Sagunto City Council, backing this kind of popular sporting event fits with a wider push for active tourism in the municipality, combining the Puerto de Sagunto (coastal district) coastline with inland routes that start in Sagunto's town centre and head into the natural park.
With 24 editions now held, the race has become a fixed late-summer date for mountain-bike fans across the comarca — a format that combines sporting challenge with the scenic appeal of crossing, in a single day, the Palancia valley and the peaks of Sierra Calderona. According to Sagunto City Council, with additional information from Wikipedia and the Sportmaniacs registration platform.