Healthy living, a sustainable planet on two wheels 

It was a roughly one-hour ride between Praça do Comércio, in Lisbon, and Praia da Torre, in Oeiras. The 2022 World Bike Tour brought together hundreds of participants once again and was backed by Galp for the second time in a row

Combining healthy sports with sustainable mobility is the main purpose of the World Bike Tour (WBT), an event Galp fully relates to. Hence, the company decided to back the event again, held on 03 July, on a morning marked by the sunshine and heat in what is also a great moment of conviviality.

More than 100 employees participated this year, most of them mounted on Galp Ryde electric bicycles, however some people chose to ride the route between Lisbon and Oeiras on classic models. This was the case of João Catarino, a member of the Corporate Strategy & Sustainability team, who decided to hit the road in what he regarded as “his bit of weekend madness. “I signed up because I had never participated and I thought it was a good opportunity; there was a group in the office that encouraged me and I ended up being influenced by the masses. It´s a good initiative, one which encourages – even the most sedentary people such as me – to be more active, at least one day a week”.

Paula Pereira, from the Brand and Marketing department, was taking part in the WBT for the first time and her assessment couldn't be more positive: “it went better than I expected as I´m not particularly well prepared for this type of sport, but the circuit was very pleasant, and everyone was able to ride at their own pace. I identify with this type of healthier and more sustainable sport, so I decided to try out the bike and, who knows, take up the activity on a permanent basis, not least due to the fact Lisbon now has more and more bike paths”.

While this event marked some people´s debut in the sport, others were participating for the second time. Carlos Pedro Pereira, in charge of Sponsorship and Brand Integration, had already participated last year, when the company launched the Galp Ryde electric mobility project. “We continued this initiative this year, allowing more people to join the party and have the opportunity to experience sustainable urban electric mobility, while promoting healthy living habits, of increasing importance today, at the same time. I´m a cyclist; I ride a lot, and this sport provides me with a combination of what is both useful and pleasant”, he says.

Galp employees Paula Pereira, Carlos Pedro Pereira and João Catarino took part in the World Bike Tour

The Galp brand has always been associated with mobility and, more recently, with low carbon energy and more sustainable forms of mobility. “The bicycle is obviously a very interesting solution and can be an important part of urban mobility, replacing cars that both pollute and generate noise. It has enormous potential, so we want to be associated with this type of mobility. Moreover, there is another factor that we, as a company concerned with the well-being of its employees, clients and associates, place value on, that being physical exercise combined with healthy living”, emphasises Galp´s Commercial COO, Teresa Abecasis.

The 2022 WBT sees Galp participating in yet another sustainable mobility event, in line with the company's purpose and commitment to the planet, based on three pillars. “One of them, the reformulation of the company´s portfolio, involves rethinking the products and services we sell, as well as the business portfolio we have. We are investing heavily in the areas of sustainable mobility. We aim to have more than 10,000 electric chargers throughout the Iberian Peninsula on public roads, commercial spaces, residential complexes and in people's own homes by 2025; we are working on the regeneration of these businesses”, highlights the Commercial COO.

Teresa Abecasis, Galp's Commercial COO, highlights the company's role in the promotion of well-being and the importance of the bicycle in urban mobility 

Another pillar is community relations, an area in which Galp also wants to make a difference. Energy transition, adds the executive, “will only happen if we do it together with people, with institutions, with research centres and with other companies. These events enable us to present ourselves to the world and show everyone that we are on the side of the community”.

The third and final pillar of the company’s purpose is to “reenergise” its people, bringing the Galp family together at this and other events “to enable them to participate with us and to find new ways of thinking and new forms of energy”, concludes Teresa Abecasis.

1/20
2/20
3/20
4/20
5/20
6/20
7/20
8/20
9/20
10/20
11/20
12/20
13/20
14/20
15/20
16/20
17/20
18/20
19/20
20/20