Cycling and the Internet joining forces to strengthen Basque use
· The PuntuEUS Foundation, the Tour of the Basque Country, the Emakumeen Bira (Women’s Tour) and the Tropela Association have launched a collaboration initiative to strengthen the use of Basque in Cycling and over the Internet.
· Beñat Intxausti and Leire Olaberria are the main protagonists in the campaign to spread the .EUS domain.
· The new websites of the Tour of the Basque Country and the Emakumeen Bira will be using the .EUS domain.
· The Basque cyclists that come first in the Tour of the Basque Country and the Emakumeen Bira will obtain the .EUS domain name.
The PuntuEUS Foundation, the Tour of the Basque Country, the Emakumeen Bira, and the Tropela Association have launched a collaboration initiative to strengthen the use of Basque in Cycling and over the Internet. Today, Josu Waliño, the CEO of the PuntuEUS Foundation; Jose Luis Arrieta, the Chairman of the Euskal Herriko Itzulia; Agustin Ruiz-Larrinaga, the organiser of the Emakumeen Bira; and Egoitz Lizaso, a member of the Tropela Association, have presented some initiatives designed to bring cycling, the Internet and Basque together within this collaboration.
Arrieta and Larrinaga have presented new websites. The new websites of the Tour of the Basque Country and the Emakumeen Bira will be using the .EUS domain and it will be possible to consult all the content in Basque at www.itzulia.eus and www.emakumeenbira.eus.
The Tropela association is responsible for developing and managing these websites. Tropela was set up to deal with the gaps needing to be filled in Basque in the new technologies, and cycling was the chosen field in view of its popularity in Basque society.
As the Tour of the Basque Country and the Emakumeen Bira are top international sports competitions, they are a reference for fans all over the world, many of whom follow the races over the Internet. So in collaboration with the PuntuEUS Foundation and the Tropela Association, the organisers of these races have made a commitment to strengthen Basque through the channels that these sports events have over the Internet.
The campaign to spread the .EUS domain
So the PuntuEUS Foundation for its part has presented a publicity campaign that will be run in conjunction with the Tour of the Basque Country and the Emakumeen Bira from 1 to 17 April. As Josu Waliño, the CEO of the PuntuEUS Foundation, pointed out, “the Tour of the Basque Country and the Bira and cycling are first and foremost events with the potential for bringing together the Basque community; no matter which routes they take, they belong to the people. Secondly, our cyclists are important in the peloton, they compete with the best in the world, they maintain their identity and enjoy the support of the best fans in the world. .EUS is also that: it positions Basque and the Basque culture on the same level as the world’s biggest domains with the support of the world’s best community”.
The campaign’s protagonists Beñat Intxausti and Leire Olaberria are professional cyclists who are calling on the cycling fans to “get a .eus domain name and stand out from the rEUSt of the peloton!” So by supporting the Tour of the Basque Country and the Bira, the domain name can be obtained for 15 euros between April 1 and 17.
Finally, the PuntuEUS Foundation will be giving the Basques who are first to reach the finishing line in the Tour of the Basque Country and the Bira their domain names as a gift so that they can set up their personal websites.