TRENTO, 22 AUGUST 2016 – The Mountain Bike Uci World Championships are back in Trentino for the second time and in this occasion the Val di Sole doubles. After the successful experience in 2008 this holiday resort, located between Tonale, Presena and the Brenta Dolomites crossed by the beauty of the Noce river, will be the backdrop for 2016 world events to be held from 29 August to 11 September with a new format: amateurs will race alongside champions. For the first time in Italy. The Elite World event 2016 will award the titles for Downhill, Trials and 4Cross while the Master races will feature Downhill and Cross Country.
THE WORLDS HAVE BEEN PRESENTED today in Trento by Aldo Bordati (O.C. President Grandi Eventi Val di Sole) and by Sergio Battistini (O.C. General Director) with Ugo Rossi (President of the Autonomous Province of Trento), Maurizio Rossini (Ceo of Trentino Marketing), Luciano Rizzi (President Apt Val di Sole) and Paolo Garniga (head of Mtb Federciclismo). With the support of Coni and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
THE RACES of Downhill and 4Cross will take place on the traditional trails in Daolasa – said Bordati and Battistini – while those of Trials and Cross Country will be held in Vermiglio. It is the first great international event to be held right after the Olympic Games in Brazil. Overall, 6 thousand people are expected, with over 1,500 athletes from 50 countries. A thousand people involved in logistics. Three thousand spectators will watch the 4Cross and Downhill races, admission with fee. Over 40 tv networks will broadcast the event worldwide, with about one hundred already accredited journalists. A spinoff value already estimated of about 4 million euros without considering the benefits of communication.
IT’S THE FOURTH TIME that the Mtb Uci World Championships are organized in Italy and twice in Val di Sole (2008 and 2016) after Il Ciocco and Livigno. But it’s the first time that the World Master event is open to amateurs. And it is not by chance that the Val di Sole and Trentino play host to this new format since in this area sport is a must for everybody, locals and tourists. Mtb athletes such as Ivan Degasperi and Silvano Janes clinched the world title at this venue. The hope is they will conquer it again. On the start line Italy’s team manager Hubert Pallhuber will be racing after Rio’s Olympic Games.
A SPORT AND TOURIST PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY said Rossini, Rizzi and Rossi behind the support given to the event by the Autonomous Province and local marketing bodies. The Mtb World Championships can take place thanks to the great investment in facilities on the territory, said Rossi. Rossini pointed out that it would be impossible to carry out promotional activities in 40 different countries due to the high cost required. The World Championships help us make Trentino and the Mtb known all over the world and increase our credibility, he said. Luciano Rizzi focussed on the increase of tourists linked to the mountain bike, as a result of this exposure.
AMONG WHAT’S NEW there are the digital technologies: currently Virtual Reality and Telemetry have dominated the world of motors (pilots, mechanics, involved in competitions such as Formula 1, MotoGp and Motocross) but now they will also be used in the mountain bike world on the occasion of Uci World Championships Val di Sole 2016. And this will be possible thanks to 2 start-ups from Trentino who already work at national and international levels: WrappingReality and Brain. In the WrappingReality stand, within the Word Champ Village set up in Daolasa-Commezzadura, anyone will be able to experience the thrill of racing down the Black Snake, the champions’ track where on 11 September the Downhill Uci World champions will be crowned. A breathtaking trail – similar to the Streif in alpine skiing downhill – that will crown the new kings of speed in Mtb at the end of the adrenaline-packed descent through the woods. With stones, roots, holes and other obstacles, faced at a speed reaching up to 70-80 Km/h and a race average speed of over 50Km/h.
The second news concerns the introduction of telemetry proposed by the start-up BRAIN aimed at monitoring performances during the races exactly as MotoGP champions. It all depends on a portable device already used by a Moto2 and Motocross teams. For motorbikes the cost of the devices is around 10-15 thousand euros, while for downhill riders it is 6-7 thousand, used by downhill top teams (in the last days, French world champion Loic Bruni was using it in Daolasa) and prices can fall to some hundred euros for amateurs. It enables riders to measure all data concerning speed, lines, angles in order to improve their performance and compare it with friends. A series of sensors also provides heart beat monitoring and other parameters. This is the future in Mtb.
THE WORLDS PREVIEW will be on Sunday 28 August with the start and finish lines in Malè of the Val di Sole Marathon, the rehearsal for 2017 national championship. Over 700 participants have already signed up. On 4 September the Italian Cup young will be held in Vermiglio. Over 400 young athletes, possible future champions will battle it out on the world event track. The Organizing Committee wanted to include them in this important festival. In addition, there will be two more races dedicated to the very young: on 27 in Malè with the Mini Marathon and on 10 September with the Cross Country Mini Word Champs in Commezzadura.
AMONG THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE DOWNHILL RACE are American Aaron Gwin (three victories on the Black Snake in Daolasa) often compared to world famous skier Bode Miller for his spectacular deeds down the slopes, French Loic Bruni (who will have to defend 2015 title), Australia’s Troy Brosnan (third last year) and UK’s Danny Hart. Another athlete worth mentioning is Southafrica’s Greg Minnaar, the man holding the world record of victories in downhill. Loris Ravelli from Italy (Liguria) will race too, he won last year in the Juniors category in val di Sole. Thanks to the 18-year-old biker from San Remo it was the first victory for Italy after seven years.
AMONG THE WOMEN UK’s champion Rachel Atherton (winner in 2015) will have to fight against compatriot Manon Carpenter and Tahnee Seagrave, New Zealand’s Tracey Hannah and French Myriam Nicole, second on the Black Snake in 2015. Among the Italian athletes, eyes on Eleonora Farina and Veronika Widmann.
AMONG THE FRINGE EVENTS noteworthy is the Party for the quarter century anniversary of Downhill world races to be held on Saturday 10 September. Pier Paolo “Pippo” Marani has gathered in Daolasa-Commezzadura the protagonists of the 25 past years from the first World event in 1991 in Tuscany at Il Ciocco. The Legend DH will feature many Italian athletes such as Corrado Hérin and Giovanna Bonazzi, perhaps the most successful and representative Italian DH riders. The first won the DH World Cup in 1997 and bronze at the Worlds in Vail (1994) while the second clinched two world titles (1991 at Il Ciocco and 1993 at Métabief, France) and two bronze medals (Vail in 1994 and Kirchzarten in 1995). Among the guests are also Paolo Caramellino, Olympic athlete Paola Pezzo (gold in Cross Country 1996 and 2000) and Paolo Rosola (Tv commentator). Bruno Zanchi, who in 1991 Worlds won in the Juniors class, will welcome fans and mtb lovers at the stand set up for this occasion. More guests are Red Bull Rob Warner famous commentator (former world DH athlete and the first UK’s rider to win a World Cup round in ’96) together with his friend Claudio Caluori (author of the much appreciated video previews of World Cup DH tracks), UCI delegate David Vasquez Lopez and his majesty Steve “Peaty” Peat, in his last racing season. The great UK champion – second in 2008 Worlds on the Black Snake – will stop racing after 20 intense and successful years of races, in which he won a World Championship in Canberra in 2009, six silver medals (Château d'Oex 1997, Sierra Nevada 2000, Vail 2001, Kaprun 2002, Val di Sole 2008, Mont-Sainte Anne 2010) and 17 World Cup rounds (52 podiums overall and a total of 3 World Cups).
Alberto Penasa - Azienda Turismo Val di Sole
Viale Marconi, 7 - 3827 - Malè - (TN)
Tel. +39.0463.900863 - Fax +39.0463.901563
www.valdisole.net - penasa.a@valdisole.net
