Only two months since the 2009 edition of the Maratona dles Dolomites the yearly cycle of announcements and preparations for the 2010 edition have already begun.
The organizer has announced that the conditions of entry of the 2010 Maratona dles Dolomites will be published as of September 30, 2009. The 2010 event date will be July 4th. Note: traditionally the registration period is open from mid-October until the first week in November.
Some statistics from this year's July 5th event:
8.864 participants; 8,762 finishers
767 women at the start
37 participating nations
104 Italian provinces at the start
If you followed Pietro's reports, from the Andy Hampsten tour, you know that he tackled the Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella passes on one day, and the Falzarego and Giau passes the following day.
In the Maratona dles Dolomites granfondo you can have the pleasure, or pain if you wish, of doing them all in one day!
The Maratona has 3 distances that participants can choose to ride, and that choice can be made on the road:
-corto, Sellaronda, course: length: 55 km, elevation gain: 1780 m; passes: Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena
-mediofondo course: length: 106 km; elevation gain: 3090 m; passes: Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Campolongo, Falzarego
-granfondo course: length: 138 km; elevation gain: 4190 m; passes: Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Giau, Falzarego.
My account of riding the mediofondo in 2007 is here, along with a funny story of meeting Greg LeMond. Search "Maratona" within the blog for more stories and photos.
Entry in the Maratona requires planning and luck (entrants are chosen in a lottery) but you can also get in through one of the reserved slots allocated to authorized tour organizers.
Stories, including cycling trip stories, for the Italian Cycling Journal welcome; contact veronaman@gmail.com
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For me this was one of the funnest and most beautiful days on a bike in 2009.
ReplyDeleteI will be placing my name in the lottery again for 2010. Fingers crossed.