It is the 19th sport with an internationally recognized Catalan team
The Biketrial Associació Catalana (Catalan Biketrial Association), founded earlier this year, was officially recognized by the Biketrial International Union (BIU) last August. Because of that fact, the Catalan Biketrial team will be able to compete in official events organized by the BIU, like the next World Championships that are to be held in the summer of 2010, where the Spanish team will also participate, represented by Biketrial Unión Española (BUE) [Spanish Biketrial Union]. Initially, Biketrial was called 'Trialsín' and was part of the International Cyclists Union (UCI). From 1992 on, however, it has had its own international federation, the BIU.
Biketrial is performed with a specially designed bicycle. As it is described on the Plataforma Proseleccions' web site, "It is an individual sport in which each rider must follow a trail, usually in a natural setting, in which there are a number of obstacle zones marked. Riders must try to pass these obstacles without touching their feet to the ground. The list of important Catalan riders is quite long as Catalonia has long been the birthplace of the best riders in the world."
Catalonia has one of the most important teams in the sport: Dani Comas has been the world champion six times, and Ot Pí and César Cañas have won 30 world titles between them, counting both Trialsín and Biketrial titles.
Originally published in Racó Català, 1/Oct/09 18:00h
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