Vuelta a España

Awareness initiative for mutual respect between drivers and cyclists to be represented by the whole Movistar Team during the Vuelta a España, starting on Saturday

Movistar launched Saturday their #RodamosJuntos initiative, an awareness campaign to remind both drivers and cyclists about the importance of mutual respect. The event took place in Nîmes, starting city of the 72nd Vuelta a España..

The initiative, supported by the Spanish Superior Sports Council (CSD), the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT), Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), La Vuelta a España and the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC), includes several actions to be developed during the next three weeks, which underline the idea of cohabitation of bicycles and motor vehicles on the roads. Eusebio Unzué (General Manager of the Movistar Team), Rafael Fernández de Alarcón (Telefónica's Sponsorships Director), José Luis López Cerrón (President of the RFEC), Javier Guillén (La Vuelta General Manager) and famous ex-procyclist Pedro Delgado have all attended the event.

The riders from the Movistar Team WorldTour squad, conscious about all risks recreational cyclists have to go through when they get to the roads, have offered their image to support the #RodamosJuntos campaign, with many other riders from different RFEC disciplines and Delgado himself joining them. 'Perico' is a protagonist, together with Alejandro Valverde, of a series of videos with plenty of different advice for both riders and drivers on how to act on the road, which constitute the core of the initiative.

The Movistar Team will be using the #RodamosJuntos hashtag on all the jerseys they wear during La Vuelta, as well as on team vehicles. The campaign will also be supported by other top sportspeople, such as Chema Martínez and Javier Gómez Noya, as well as the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, which will sport the hashtag on their motorbikes.

The website www.rodamosjuntos.org offers practical tips, reviewed by both the DGT and the RFEC, on some of the most frequent situations that put riders and drivers at risk every day, due to increasing coexistence of bikes and motor vehicles on the roads.

To boost awareness around cycling fans, a Facebook App, #RodamosJuntos, has also been created. The platform allows the user creating a custom message and sign a manifesto together with their favourite Movistar Team rider, in order to support the initiative and ask for respect by and to all road users on their social media.

Pictures: Vuelta a España / Paco Anguita