Participant’s Manual
The Titan Tropic Cuba is a mountain bike race by stages that is disputed in the island of Cuba. It is an event opened to all the lovers of cycling, it joins together amateur participants and professionals who, during 5 days the make a route of approximately 400 km, including a prologue stage of 30 km.
Although it is a competition opened to all the lovers of MTB, it is advisable to be in a good physical form and to have good technology in mountain.
LOGÍSTICS
HOW TO ARRIVE TO CUBA?
The organization puts at the disposal of the participants the ticket in regular flight from Barcelona (with stop in Madrid) and from Madrid. These flights are not included in the price of inscription and must be engaged separately. The information about schedules and rates will be announced in the web page.
The flight to Cuba will be on December 4th and the return flight on December 12th.
You can also go to the start point by your own. The meeting point will be the Hotel Memories Miramar, in La Habana, the 4th of December from 6pm.
TRANSPORT OF BYCICLES
The organization will transport the bikes from Spain to Cuba by air. One month before the start of the race, between the 9th and 10th of November, all the participants must deliver their bike in the store of the TITAN TROPIC in Barcelona.
Exceptionally the participants who reside in America will be able to travel directly to the race with their bikes.
The withdrawal of the bikes in Barcelona after the race is foreseen for the 4th and 5th January 2016.
TRANSPORT OF SUITCASES IN RACE
The organization of the race transports in trucks a suitcase for participant. Before the start of the stage, the participant leaves the suitcase in the zone of delivery of baggage located in the camp and will find it in the same zone at the end of the stage. There is no access to that suitcase during the stages, only at the arrival to the camps.
CLOTHES
The organization recommends the use of a different maillot and coulotte in every stage. We also recommend taking a light windbreaker. For the camps you will use t-shirt and shorts. It is advisable to take one warm cloth. Don’t forget the swimsuit for the hotels and some of the camps.
The temperatures will range between 17ºC to 30ºC. The climate in Cuba is moderate subtropical with two differentiated seasons. From November to April is the dry season, with less humidity and a slightly cooler, with a range of maximal temperatures from 21 to 28 and low temperatures from 18 to 24.
COMMUNICATIONS
Many zones where the camps are placed have mobile coverage. Even it, in some zones or camps will be impossible to find mobile coverage. The connection to Internet is very limited in the island, even with the data rate of the mobile phones. It is almost restricted to the hotel of arrival and departure, where some access time cards are purchased.
MEDICAL SERVICES
The race has a professional and specialized team of doctors and assistants that attend the participants during the race and in the camps. Urgent attention in the camps is available 24h.
The inscription includes medical assistance in Cuba. For the assistance of accidents it is obligatory to have a current license of a federation affiliated to the International Cycling Union. An authorization is required by the federation to participate in this test.
ELECTRICITY
The electricity in the camps comes from the electric generators of the organization. Just beside the logistics track there is a space reserved to the charge of electronic devices at the disposal of the participants.
MECHANICAL ASSISTANCE AND PHYSICAL THERAPY
The organization does not provide the participants of mechanical assistance and physical therapy during the race but several specialized and independent companies offer the service to the participants. Every participant can contract the service with the company that suits better his needs. The companies that will be present in the race can be consulted in the web page of the race.
SPORTS ASPECTS
The Titan Tropic Cuba has a sports regulation that includes some peculiarities for the special characteristics of the race. You can consult the regulation in the web page.
CATEGORIES
All the participants older than 16 year-old can participate in the Titan Tropic Cuba (people under 18 needs the authorization of the parents or of the legal tutor)
The individual participants remain formed in one of the following individual categories (except the participants in DUO MIXTO, CORPORATE and AMBASSADOR):
Sub23
Elite
Master
Senior
Women
ROUTE
The exact route for the next day is revealed the night before. At the end of October the description of the stages will be published, its exact distance and unevenness will be announced in the official web of the race.
The stages have a route that varies from 50km and 90km of distance with a varied altimetry. The area will be on tracks of good state, other are stonier and technical, passing by very humid zones.
A STAGE IN THE RACE
The start of the race is made from the hotel/camp. The organization indicates to the participant which is the route to make and its follow-up is obligatory. All the route is indicated by the organization.
All the participants must pass by the pass controls established by the organization.
Every day at 8pm there is breafing, obligatory for participants where the main notifications of the next stage are given. The briefing is done in Spanish and there is a service of simultaneous translation to English.
ABANDONS
The participants who abandon in any of the stages will stay out of the general classification. They will be gathered (rider and bicycle) by the vehicle that closes the race and moved to the end of the stage. They will be able to take the start in the following stages, but will not be in the general classification. If he/she turns to abandon, it will not be possible to take the start in the following stages.
The organization is in charge of transporting from camp to camp the participants who have definitively abandoned. If they wish, the organization can arrange the transfer to the finish line or to the closer airport. The costs of these extra services will be paid by the participants through an authorization to debit a credit card.
CLOSING CONTROL
There is a maximum time stipulated by the organization for each of the stages. The time of closing control changes depending of the characteristics of the route and it is announced by the organization in the breafing before the celebration of the stages. In case of not reaching the finish line in the maximum limit of time, the participant will stay out of the classification. He will be able to take the start the following day, but his results will not appear in the general classification. If he returns to abandon in the next days, he will not be able to take the start again in the following stages.
TEAMS
The race can be made individually or in teams. There are some rules for the composition of teams.
The TEAMS in the race are composed by 3 participants and appear in the classification by teams, adding up the times of the 3 members. They also appear in the individual classification of their category.
It is also possible to participate in the category DUO MIXTO, a team of two persons composed by a man and a woman, who in addition they must make the route of the stages together having a maximum limit of time between both of 1 minute in the controls of pass and in the finish line. The participants of this category do not appear in the individual classifications.
The teams CORPORATE is for persons of those companies who want to compose a team of 3 participants. As in the category DUO MIXTO, they must make the route together with a maximum time of 2 minutes between the three members of the team in the controls of pass and in the finish line. The participants of this category do not appear in the individual classifications.
And finally, the teams AMBASSADOR is for residents in a same village who want to create a team of 2 participants to represent the village. As in the other categories, they also have to make the route of the stage together having a maximum limit of time between both of 1 minute in the controls of pass and in the finish line. The participants of this category do not appear in the individual classification either.
ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS.
The camps are the neuralgic point of the Titan Tropic Cuba. There, the participants will find the logistic necessary infrastructure after the stages: zone for parking the bikes, the restaurant, the bar, the tents to sleep, WC and showers, as well as the spaces destined to the services of medical assistance and fisio therapist.
ACCOMMODATION
During the days of the race the participants sleep in tents of individual use (245x145x105 cm) that will be equipped with an insulated small mat and a towel. It is necessary that the participant takes his sleeping bag.
HYDRATION STATIONS
During the stages the participants have 3 Stations of Hydration, with a maximum distance between them of 30km. In the Stations of Hydration there will be water, juices, fruit and other autochthonous products.
FOOD AND DRINKS
All the meals during the day of verifications/prologue and the 5 days of the race are included in the price of inscription. In the camps the participants have a dining room with breakfast buffet, lunch and dinner during the days of the race. The last day (11 December), the lunch is free and it is not included, and that night there will be the prize giving diner.
In every meal, there will be varied food, rich in carbohydrates, vegetables, cereals, pasta, rice… all that the participants need to recover from a hard stage, having products of the Cuban gastronomy.
The drinks in the camps are not included in the price of the inscription. Before the stages the participants receive from the organization 2 liters of water and during the stages they will find 3 stations of hydration to recharge their back packs and the cans. The organization also facilitates some tickets to get 12 extra bottles of water out of the stage.
MONEY IN RACE
To get the extra drinks in the zone of bar of the camp, the participants can buy in the tent of Service to Participants the tickets “Titanitos”, official currency used in the race to avoid changing to the official currency. (The Titanitos will be paid in €).
CALENDAR AND INSCRIPTIONS
The Titan Tropic Cuba is disputed from December 6 to 10, with a prologue stage the 5th. The technical verifications are obligatory for all the participants and will be made the morning of the 5th of December, and from Sunday to Thursday will be celebrated the 5 stages of the race.
The period of inscriptions to the race starts the 28th of July 2015 coinciding with the official presentation and will be opened until the 31st October 2015.
TO REGISTER IN THE RACE
The inscriptions are made through the web page, in the sections INSCRIPTIONS, where the online form must be completed (prior registration in the web) with the personal and sports information. The payment of the inscription is made through bank transfer.
What is included in the inscription?
The inscription includes the following services:
- Accommodation during 4 nights in camps and 4 nights in hotel, from December 4-11 full board unless the 11, which will be half board. Breakfast and lunch is not included the 4th of December nor the lunch the days 11 and 12.
- Transport of the bike by air from Barcelona to La Habana and return.
- Timing in the race through a chip (provided by the organization)
- Stations of Hydration during the route (water and other drinks)
- Talon of 12 tickets to change for 12 bottles of water of 1,5 l. in the designated zone.
- Medical and nursery service during the days of the race.
- Medical assistance in Cuba.
- Maillot of Finisher* (only in case of having finished the 5 stages in the established time).
- Exclusive t-shirt of the race.
- Extra services (not obligatory and not included in the inscription)
- Flight go and return and management of the VISA
- Service of medical assistance and physical therapy.
- Service of withdrawal and delivery of bicycles to domicile
MORE INFORMATION AND PERSONALIZED ASSISTANCE
All the information is available and will be updated in the official web of the race www.titantropic.com
You can contact the organization in +34 902 431 763 or [email protected]