The Monção and Melgaço sub-region, in the Vinhos Verdes, will be the scenario of Granfondo, a cycling event, open to the public, which intends to promote, with great proximity, the offer of tourism, nature, gastronomy and heritage of those two municipalities of Alto Minho.
The event was presented at the Casa do Vinho Verde in Porto, and the Monção and Melgaço Granfondo by Trek aims to boost “the territory as a whole, including wine, which is part of its identity”, with an obvious highlight for the Alvarinho grape variety . As Manuel Pinheiro, president of the Viniculture Commission of the Vinhos Verdes Region (CVRVV) said, “this link is made not only with wine, but also with nature and the river Minho.”
In charge of Bikeservice, the race starts and finishes in Monção, passing through the town of Melgaço, in three distances: Granfondo (140 km), Mediofondo (104 km) or Minifondo (62 km). The route contemplates diverse scenarios and lands, as the mountain massif of the Mountain range of Peneda; historical villages such as Lamas de Mouro, Santo António de Vale de Podros, Branda da Aveleira, Parada do Monte and Fiães, with the constant presence of the river Minho.
The registration fee is 35 euros for non-federated participants and 32 euros for federated. It is also planned to carry out a solidarity walk, with a cost of seven euros, which will revert to a joint cause of the environmental forum. The event has a planned investment of 80 thousand euros, which will be supported by the promotion fund of the Monção and Melgaço sub-region. According to Manuel Pinheiro, the dynamization of this subregion is already evident, except for the increase in sales of Vinho Verde Alvarinho by around 24% over last year.
