Whether crossing the tops of the Swiss Jura or cycling along the Rhine: fun and intercultural exchange during the tour are at least as important as the sporting challenge. This 19th edition of the event will take the participants around the Eucor university cities, namely Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Basel, and Freiburg. The tour is organized by the Tour EUCOR e.V. students’ association at KIT and will start on May 25, 2016 at 8 a.m. at the Karlsruhe Castle.
“Exchanging views with each other across borders, being active and achieving goals together: this has been the motto of the Tour Eucor for many years – so it is a prominent example of the idea of a common European campus that is now becoming reality with Eucor – The European Campus,” says Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President for Innovation and International Affairs of KIT, who will attend the tour kick-off at the Karlsruhe Castle.
Around 120 students, alumni, and staff members of the five partner institutions will set out for the tour. “In total, they will cover about 84,000 kilometers and climb almost 800,000 meters,” explains Benjamin Litz, one of the organizers of the Tour Eucor. “To make up for the different performance levels of the participants, six groups will be set up this year again with different speed, stage length, and elevation requirements so that every participant can join the group that best suits his or her individual fitness.” Altogether, depending on the group chosen at the beginning, each participant will cover some 600 to 900 kilometers during the tour.
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The sporting highlight for ambitious riders will be the third stage from Mulhouse to Basel: The route will take them through the Swiss Jura Mountains, across the Col de la Croix and the Schartenfluh ridge, meaning that 3,100 meters have to be climbed by the participants on that day. “Of course, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the exchange with others. Spending an evening on the banks of the river Rhine and meeting a lot of nice new people after a day in the saddle brings the Eucor idea to life,” says Litz. Therefore, having lunch together and meeting at common breakpoints, if possible, are integral parts of each stage. Socializing is also possible during the side events organized by the universities of the stopover cities: the participants may take part in a tarte flambée dinner in Strasbourg and a big party in Freiburg.
Catering throughout the day is provided by an escort team from the KIT Department of Economics and Management. The trail food in figures: 60 kgs of pasta, 32 kgs of rice, 65 kgs of meat, 25 kgs of onions, 3,175 liters of water, 45 kgs of tea powder, 1,260 effervescent tablets, 2,294 muesli bars, 67 kgs of bananas, 67 kgs of apples, 70 cakes.
Find more information at: http://www.tour-eucor.org
Eucor – The European Campus
Eucor – The European Campus – is a confederation of the Universities of Basel, Freiburg, Strasbourg, the University of Haute-Alsace, and the KIT, forming a tri-national higher education network that currently hosts 115,000 students and 15,000 researchers. The aim of this cooperation is to combine the strengths of each university in common research projects and give the students free access to the range of courses offered by the other universities. It is planned to expand the confederation into a research and science network with an international appeal to facilitate joint appointments, common staff, and joint applications for the funding of research and to intensify the establishment of integrated study programs. Eucor – The European Campus – builds on a long-standing cooperation of the Upper Rhine universities: In 1989, they joined forces to form a cross-border network under the “Eucor” moniker.
For more information, please visit: http://www.eucor-uni.org
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.