More than 550 athletes will take part this Saturday in the 20th Vertical Climb to Gran Hotel Bali

This Saturday, March 28th, Bali Hotel in Benidorm will once again become the epicentre of the Towerrunning World Association's World Tour with the 20th edition of the Vertical Climb, which will begin at 10:00 AM. The hotel will, once again, be a sporting giant with its 52 floors, 924 steps, and 190 meters of elevation gain.

The race, which was presented this morning at the City Hall, will feature more than 550 participants who will face this challenge in the three categories: equipped firefighters (more than 120 registered), Open, and Elite. For the ninth consecutive year, it is included in the World Tour calendar.

The Councillor for Sports, Javier Jordá, who invited "everyone to enjoy this celebration of sport, one of the city's most significant events," also highlighted "the high level of participation" and the "great difficulty" of the race. For his part, Miquel Tortosa, director of the Vertical Climb, specified that this year registration closed two months before the start of the race and emphasised that this edition will feature the participation of the world champion, who is Japanese.

Regarding the schedule, the firefighters in full gear will start at 10:00 AM, with a total of 170 registered participants. An hour later, the Open race will begin, and at noon, the Elite category will start, with 40 participants "who will start in reverse order of their world ranking." According to Tortosa, the Vertical Climb to the Hotel Bali is "the oldest race in Europe and the most prestigious on the continent."

Among the participants in the Elite category are those from countries such as Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Mexico, Slovakia, Croatia, England, Poland, Australia, and Spain, "which confirms the global nature of the competition." The times to beat remain the 4'20" set by German Christian Riedl in 2018 in the men's category and the 5'30" achieved by Croatian Tea Faber in 2015 in the women's.

This year, as Tortosa revealed, there will be a new addition. "A firefighter who is an accomplished rider will cycle down from the rooftop terrace to the hotel entrance. He will then change into his firefighter gear and take part in the fully equipped firefighter race," he explained.