After the Tour, it is the Maratona dles Dolomites that puts on a show on Italian roads

The Tour has just returned to its usual French roads, leaving the baton of spectacle on this side of the Alps to the Maratona dles Dolomites. The most classic and fascinating Italian Granfondo returns as usual on the first Sunday of July to occupy the dreams (and sometimes the nightmares) of amateur cyclists. This year the challenge, now in its 37th edition, will see at the starting line8,000 enthusiasts - half Italian and half from 79 foreign countries, 39 of which from outside Europe, with a female quota increasing to 12.5% - ready to accomplish their feat.

And if the Mutatio, understood as a metamorphosis capable of generating in athletes, organisers and volunteers a positive change in the presence of Mother Nature, is the theme of this edition, it is the route that remains faithful and unchanging with respect to recent years. It will be Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Giau, Falzarego and Valparola the passes to be overcome along the three now traditional routes: Sella Ronda , with its 55 kilometres in length and 1.780 metres of altitude difference; the Medium of 106 kilometres and 3130 metres; the real Marathon , 138 kilometres long and with 4,230 metres to overcome. All of them strictly closed to traffic and, above all, within the unique and incomparable scenery of the Dolomites, a World Heritage Site .

As always, a few well-known faces from the worlds of sport and show business will pop up among the Sunday pedallers and hard-core amateurs, some more and some less trained. Among the former pedal champions of the past, Miguel Indurain, Paolo Bettini, Gianni Bugno, and for the first time even Fabio Aru will certainly make their mark. Federico Pellegrino, Mattia Casse, Manfred Mölgg, Jury Chechi, Federica Sanfilippo and Cristian Zorzi will this time choose cycling after excelling in other sports.

From this year, the historic Marathon routes will be transformed into the Supermarathon
The project, presented by Aosta Valley mountaineer Hervé Barmasse and the Maratona dles Dolomites, combines sporting passion with an evocative journey: a real invitation to immerse oneself in the history and culture of the Dolomites through cycling. Hervé, the first to take on this challenge in the days leading up to the Maratona, will tackle all the climbs climbed in previous editions of the Maratona in an itinerary 285 kilometres long with an altitude difference of 8400 metres and crossing 13 Dolomite passes, an integral and magnificent part of the history of cycling in an unprecedented challenge. But above all, a challenge that can be taken up by everyone through the routes available at the link maratona.it/supermaratona .

Once again, peaks and hairpin bends will be the scene of yet another challenge between the VIPs of Italian finance, regular guests of the Marathon. Contending for the podium with Massimo Doris, CEO of Banca Mediolanum, will be Vittorio Colao, Gian Luca Sichel (Mediobanca), Matteo Arcese (Arcese Trasporti), Pierluigi Alessandri (Technogym) and Nicola Lanzetta (Enel). At least for one day they will be more committed to the numbers of reports than to balance sheets.