Marie Claire Aquilina, Mark Bonnici, Jeffrey Borg, Maurice Formosa, Mark Micallef, Patrick Scicluna and Paul Zarb will be flying the Maltese flag in the 8th edition of the HERO Südtirol Dolomites to be held on Saturday, 17 June 2017.
The mountain bike marathon around the Sella and Sassolungo mountains is once again part of the UCI MTB Marathon Series, the World Cup of long distance races. There are many world-famous athletes among the 4017 participants. Amongst the athletes, which represent forty-five nations, the three first-ranked from last year are also scheduled to compete.
Dubbed as Europe’s hardest mountain bike race, the course runs through Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba, the Fassa valley and the Alpe di Siusi high mountain plateau.
The males’ race covers 86 km in length and 4,500 m in altitude, whilst the women’s race is 60 km long and riders have to overcome an altitude change of 3,200 m with the highest peak at 2,298m for both races. The races start at 7:10 am (women) and 7:20 am (men) in Selva.
“This race is considered to be one of the ‘must do’ races for seasoned mountain bikers. Over the years Maltese participation has increased, and this will be the largest contingent attempting the 86km route. The Alps provide a great biking challenge, and the Dolomites are scene to many memorable moments, that we hope will bring out the best in the Maltese contingent” explained Mark Bonnici.
The Maltese contingent can be followed via the event website – http://herodolomites.com/. The Race will be broadcast live for two hours on Eurosport 2 at 10am, Saturday 17th June.
