Photo CoinAgenda Europe 2022 BitAngels Winners with the judges. From left to right: Brian Santos, COO at Fly Air, Ed Prado, CEO at RAIRTech, Hervé Larren, Founder at Airvey Metaverse LLC, Garrett Minks, CTO at RAIRTech, CoinAgenda Organizer Michael Terpin, Natalia Sokolova, Managing Partner at SGG World, Jacques Voorhees, Founder & CEO Icecap, and David Orban, Managing Advisor at Beyond Enterprizes.
Photo source: Wael Yusuf, Gulf Air
As the sun shone brightly over the Principality on Sunday, close to a hundred brave people took to the waters off Port Hercule for a gruelling 24-kilometre Riviera Water Bike Challenge, in which reigning champions team Serenity renewed their top position.
With Princess Charlene in self-isolation after contracting Covid-19, it was up to her husband Prince Albert II and children Hereditary Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella to cheer on the teams on Sunday 5th June.
The Prince signalled the start of the challenge at exactly 10:10am at the Yacht Club of Monaco, where 19 water bikes took off to join the course at the Solarium de la Digue Rainier III where the relay zone was located.
In the end, a total of 95 people took part in the challenge, including 41 sports celebrities. The aim: to raise awareness of and funding for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
With the sun shining, the public came out in force to cheer on the cyclists at the Solarium, as they completed 22 laps in difficult conditions of heat, humidity, and swell.
After more than two hours and 50 minutes of racing, it was team Serenity who crossed the finish line at the Yacht Club first. The team was made up of Gareth Wittstock, Secretary General of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, Terence Parkin, Ambassador of the Foundation, Caleb Ewan, Philip Deignan and David Tanner.
The A&S Estate team finished 2nd, with Edgard John Augustin – aka Bionic Body – and Greg Minnaar, while the Interpadel team, with Foundation Ambassador Bjørn Maaseide, Thor Hushovd and Federico Vella, completed the podium.
Prince Albert II presented the trophies to the winning teams. They were created especially for this event by local jeweller Alberto Vitale and made from recycled materials found on the beach of Monaco.
Minister of the Interior Patrice Cellario and Ambassador of France to Monaco Laurent Stefanini presented the trophies respectively to the 2nd and 3rd teams.
The Riviera Water Bike Challenge is designed as a fun and friendly sporting challenge to raise funds for the prevention of drowning. This year, the money will finance the ‘Swim for Safety’ project supported by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation in Sri Lanka, to teach swimming and water safety to underprivileged children. The public were able to follow the race online, from start to finish, and donate by voting for their favourite team.
There was a great atmosphere at both the Solarium and the Yacht Club of Monaco, where everyone was able to enjoy a bbq, live music, and a jumping castle for the kids.
Cap Optimist hits the open seas
Come 2.30pm, it was time for Stéphanie Geyer Barneix, Race Director of the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, to kick start the Cap Optimist: Monaco Athens expedition, departing from the Yacht Club of Monaco. The Cap Optimist team is made up of six experienced water women and lifesaving champions – Stéphanie Geyer Barneix, Alexandra Lux, Emmanuelle Bescheron, Itziar Abascal, Margot Calvet, and Marie Goyeneche, who will take turns on a paddleboard to reach Athens, Greece, in 15 days, covering more than 1,800 kilometres.
The aim is to raise funds for the educational projects of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and for the ELPIDA association in Greece, which accompanies sick children with cancer.
The race was blessed in the presence of Prince Albert, Minister of State Pierre Dartout, Ambassador of France to Monaco Laurent Stefanini, and many Monegasque personalities.
This expedition is also a preparation for the great Cap Optimist crossing in the South Pacific, from Peru to French Polynesia, which aims to set a new world record in 2023 and promote the Hope Team East association, a group which helps sick people to live better thanks to sport. People can support Cap Optimist by purchasing kilometers (1 km = 100€).
Click on the gallery below for more photos from the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, photos by Claudia G. Albuquerque…
SEE ALSO:
Gareth Wittstock: “There will be plenty of competitive spirit on the day”
Teams chosen for Riviera Water Bike Challenge
Top photo of Gareth Wittstock and Prince Albert by Claudia G. Albuquerque
As the enormous task of dismantling the grand prix circuit gets underway, it is time to take stock of this year’s Formula 1 GP and, according to the government, it was “unquestionably” one of the best in recent history.
The Monaco Grand Prix is the Principality’s biggest event of the year, attracting the social elite, sports celebrities, A-listers and racing enthusiasts from across the globe for a weekend of partying, and of course racing.
But this year felt different. Held from Thursday 26th to Sunday 29th May, the lead up to the big event appeared as busy as the race day itself. This was obviously due to the fact that the 2021 edition was cancelled because of Covid-19, and heavy restrictions were placed on the 2021 GP limiting capacity by 50%.
According to a statement by the Monaco government on Monday, “all the indicators show that the 2022 edition was a real success after two measured years”. It was a “positive trend that also characterised the e-Prix and the Historic Grand-Prix organised earlier in May”.
Crowds descend on the Principality
Whether by rail, boat or helicopter, the number of people who arrived on Monegasque soil to attend the Grand Prix did so in greater numbers than in 2019, the last GP unaffected by Covid. Meanwhile, the number of vehicles entering the Principality stagnated, which the government considers an encouraging sign that people are finally favouring public transport as a way of access during the busy weekend.
Here are the figures:
Accommodation reaches welcome highs
The high number of visitors to the Principality can also be seen in the first figures available for the hotel industry. The results are higher than those achieved in 2019, which remains the last reference year, with an occupancy rate up by +3% and an average room price of +18%. The cumulative occupancy rates of 3, 4 and 5-star hotels over the four days of the Grand Prix are close to or equal to 100%.
With regards to the catering sector, an initial estimate resulting from a Welcome Office survey of restaurateurs shows that 80% of them believe that the Monaco Grand Prix has had a “positive or even very positive impact” on their activity. They noted a strong crowd over the four days, especially for the establishments located in La Condamine and Monte-Carlo. The clientele was of various nationalities, mainly of European origin such as France, Italy, United Kingdom and Germany, but also from the United States and Latin America.
Overall, the restaurateurs interviewed praised the work in terms of security.
“The Prince’s Government salutes the commitment of all the private and public players who, through their professionalism, have enabled this 79th Formula 1 Grand-Prix to be a success and thus mark an encouraging start to the summer season,” concluded the government.
SEE ALSO:
Why a cloud of uncertainty lingers over the Monaco Grand Prix
Top photo by Monaco Life
A unique and unexpected combination of forces, Barclays Bank, Fight AIDS Monaco and Stars’N’Bars, joined together last week to celebrate inclusion and diversity in honour of Pride month.
Photos source: Fight Aids Monaco
AS Monaco Basketball were made to work for the victory in the dying stages of their Betclic Elite semi-final second-leg against Pau-Lacq-Orthez (79-72), but in triumph, they moved to within a victory of the final.
Yakouba Outtara said after victory in the first-leg that he expected a “reaction” from Pau, but Monaco didn’t allow them to react as they maintained the high levels of intensity and concentration that saw them finish second in the regular season.
Any “reaction” from the away-side on Saturday was a delayed one, as their fourth-quarter comeback was a case of too little too late. 2-0 down in the series Pau now have to win both ties on their home court just to take the series to a decider at the Salle Gaston Médécin.
Based on what has been seen thus far, that is an unlikely scenario. The underdogs haven’t been given a sniff, and Sasa Obradovic’s men will be looking to finish the job in efficient professional style in the third-leg on Tuesday.
Outtara picked up where he left off, as he got the Roca Team off to a scoring start. Nonetheless, Pau managed to stay within touching distance during the first-quarter as some slick passing worked good openings on the edge of the key.
But they simply couldn’t shut Monaco out. Dwayne Bacon, top scorer on the day with 20 points, was unstoppable within the key, whilst Donta Hall was an ever-present menace in the attacking phases.
By the end of the third-quarter, Obradovic’s men had worked a 16-point lead, and although that gap proved too large to breach, Pau did give Monaco a scare by getting within seven-points. Ultimately, however, Monaco finished the job (79-72) and should they approach the third tie with the same level of professionalism, they will surely book their place in the Betclic Elite final.
Obradovic knows that in order to do so, they will likely have to avoid repeating their fourth-quarter collapse. “The most important thing is the victory, but we certainly made the task difficult for ourselves. When we have such a big lead, we can’t let hope creep into the opponent’s game. We have to kill the game as soon as possible,” said the Serbian coach. “We want to finish this series as quickly as possible and give ourselves the maximum resting time before the final.”
Victory on Tuesday will give Monaco the perfect conditions to allow them to finish their incredible season with silverware.
Photo source: AS Monaco Basketball
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