A caravan of motobikers tasked with bringing the Flame of Peace from Rome to Minsk took off for Italy today.
Members of "The one chapter Belarus" biker club who will accompany the Flame of the 2nd European Games on the territory of Europe started their journey at Minsk's Memorial Church of All Saints.
The Games mascot Lesik, as well as staff of the Minsk European Games Organising Committee (MEGOC), Belarusian journalists, and family and friends of the bikers bid them a good journey before their departure.
In full gear and with high spirits, the bikers revved their engines to go to the first control point on the route, which is located 150km from Minsk.
Yevgeny Beyzak, head of "The one chapter Belarus" biker club:
"I'm a little anxious because the journey is quite long, but this is similar to the slight pre-competition jitters among athletes. The total distance that we will have to travel is around 7,700 km. We are heading on our journey with a weight of responsibility and, of course, pride in our country. I am confident that the equipment will not let us down, and the Flame of Peace will be delivered on time. It will be easy to identify our motorcade because every motorcyle will display the nationa flag and the flag of the Torch Relay. We want people to take notice of the fact that the Republic of Belarus has already established itself as an excellent organiser of many events. People already know about our country, thus, our main task is to tell about the upcoming Games.
"Preparation for the journey to Rome began about a year ago, and it took about six months to develop the route. By participating in such an important feature of the Games as the Torch Relay, each one us fully feels himself to be a part of a global sports events and sports celebration."
After hearing the well wishes of the sendoff attendees, the bikers rushed off to conquer European roads so that on May 11 they can return to the border of Belarus together with the Flame of Peace.
The motorcade will continue to move to its destination regardless of weather conditions.
