Noida, India and Alicante, Spain – 22nd October, 2017: The 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race was flagged off at Alicante, Spain today, with HCL Technologies as the strategic IT services provider. The leading global IT services company has provided end-to-end infrastructure support as well as connectivity between the Race Village and the Command Centre in Alicante further connecting them to 12 Host Cities on the race route globally. The world's longest and toughest professional sporting event began today at Alicante and will finish eight months later at The Hague.