An event that makes you feel good
La Maratona dles Dolomites
Clip, clip, clip… At 6:30 in the morning everything is quiet and peaceful, just nature and bikes. All you can hear is the sound of shoes clipping into pedals and off you go. No one says a word, the mountains that hold Alta Badia as if in the palm of a hand are silent. They are there listening to the hum of the wheels and the screeching of the brakes.
There is something magical in the ritual of departures, and for the Maratona Dles Dolomites, it is something extra.
There were 166 daredevils at the first edition in 1987 and in recent years they have been limited to around 9,000, because it would be too complicated to organise more than that. Yet every year over 30,000 people knock on the door of the Maratona in the hope of having the dream of getting a competitor’s bib come true.
The roots of this race are a bit the same as those of the other great events that have become iconic, and I’m thinking of the first Giro d'Italia or the first New York Marathon. There is always a small group of brave and visionary friends who kickstart an event that at first is closer to a dream than a real project. But then it becomes one and leaves a mark on which history is written.
And legend has it that it really was a group of 4 friends from Pedraces who came up with the idea in 1987 of a long ride between Sella Ronda and the surrounding area to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Alta Badia Raiffeisen cycling club. The menu for the first edition included a single course of 175 kilometers featuring 7 Dolomite passes: Gardena, Sella, Fedaia, Duran, Forcella Staulanza, Falzarego and Valparola. All good real stuff, from a historic stage of the Giro d'Italia.
166 signed up. 145 started, with only one woman, the Dutch cyclist Trui Beemsterboer. For the record, the winner was the Austrian Wolfgang Steinmayr, who arrived at the finish line in Pedraces after more than ten hours of extreme effort for an amateur cyclist. At the time, neither the organizers nor the riders were aware of having taken part in a historic moment in cycling.
That 12th July 1987 is a milestone and that’s where we have to start. Word of mouth among enthusiasts, the beauty of the Dolomite roads and the professionalism of the organizers have made “la Maratona” a symbol, the most iconic race in non-professional cycling.
Most of all, credit should go to Michil Costa who has chaired the organizing committee since 1996, and Claudio Canins who is a genius at implementing projects and hitting targets.
Over the last 30 years, the “Maratona”, as everyone now calls it because effectively it represents them all, has grown internationally and established its profile in detail. It is held over three routes: the short one, sorry… the “classic” with the 4 Passes of the Sella Ronda (Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella and Gardena); the medium version to which a second Campolongo is added along with the Falzarego, the Valparola and more recently also the hellish “Mur del Giat”; and the long one which includes the Giau to complete this feast of mountains.
From Pordoi to Sella and from Gardena to Falzarego, the names of the climbs call to mind the history of the great cycling days of Coppi and Bartali, Merckx and Gimondi, Induráin and Pantani… effectively they are part of the history of the Giro d’Italia.
Perhaps this is also why former champions like Induráin, Nibali, Bettini and Lelli are among the most faithful supporters of the Maratona, while over the years other pedalling giants such as Wiggins, Cassani, Bugno and Museeuw have taken part as ordinary enthusiasts.
And the roads are simply the most beautiful thing you could ask for when pedalling. A sumptuous cycle path in paradise, with no cars or motorbikes. God was particularly inspired when he designed the Dolomites, but Man has done his part over the millennia, working the land and tending the woods right up to where the rock begins. There is no mountain place in the world so well groomed. So unique.
Can you now understand why even business leaders, ministers and the most influential people choose the Maratona delle Dolomiti to test themselves and refine the noble effort of sport?
And all of them, athletes, entrepreneurs or cycling enthusiasts in general, gladly return, indeed they start to feel at home. And do you know why? Because in those days of waiting and then in the race itself they experience positive sensations. They feel good.
All of us are led to repeat pleasant experiences, we try to retrace the steps or the rides that have given us good feelings. This is why many return every year and meet up with others who share the same approach to sport and, if you want… to life.
Well, the Maratona dles Dolomites is all of this and more: an event that makes you feel good.
Pierbattista Bergonzi, known as Pier, is editor of the weekly supplement SportWeek. In addition to his journalistic activities, he has edited books on cycling and sport in general. In 2022 he won the “Biagio Agnes” award for the interview with Pope Francesco published in La Gazzetta dello Sport and SportWeek, the only interview that a Pope has ever given to a sports journalist.
