In preparation for the UCI Para-Cycling Americas Region Open Championship in Colombia, this weekend the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (BPC) organized the Brazilian Paralympic Cycling Championship.

On October 13th and 14th, 27 of the best national paralympic cycling athletes competed, in the events of time trial and road race. The categories competing were:

 

Brazilian Paralympic Cycling, Photo: BPC

• LC1(for people with upper body disability),
• LC2 (for athletes with a disability in the lower limbs, where a prosthesis can be used),
• LC3 (for athletes pedaling with only one lower limb),
• LC4 (for athletes wih a higher level of disability, usually afecting both lower limbs with or without impairment in the upper limbs),
• Handbike (for spinal cord injured athletes)
• Tandem (for visually impaired athletes, accompanied by a guide).

One of the purposes of the competition was to select 12 athletes to represent the country in Cali, Colombia, which is the last chance to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

BPC Paralympic Cycling Coordinator Rivaldo Martins said: “Usually this championship would take place in December. This is the reason why there are only 27 athletes, while last year we had 40. But because the Pan-American in Colombia was antecipated, we had to adapt our schedule.”

It is expected that the selected athletes can guarantee the Brazilian participation in one more sport in the upcoming Paralympic Games.

For more information, please visit the BPC website: http://www.cpb.org.br