UCI Mountain Bike and Trials 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 the Tonale, Presena and the Brenta Dolomites and whose beauty is enhanced by the river Noce - 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 the champions.
The Master world event races will be held from 29 August to 4 September. The venue for Cross Country is Vermiglio and for downhill Daolasa. At the same time Vermiglio will also play host to Trials competitions.
It’s the fourth time that the Uci Mtb World Championships are organized in Italy, exactly 25 years after the experience at Il Ciocco, followed by Livigno, before the double fixture in Trentino. But it’s the first time for the World Masters event. And it is not by chance that the Val di Sole and Trentino plays host to this event, since 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 repeat the deeds. On the start line Italy’s team manager Hubert Pallhuber will be racing after Rio’s Olympic Games. Ball of fire Hubi wants to make a special gift to Bordati, Battistini and partners, standing on the start line in Vermiglio. Over 1500 athletes will be competing in the race. (info:www.valdisolebikeland.com).
In the World Masters, Pippo Marani has organized a gathering of legendary protagonists of the Mountain bike in its early period, both Italian and international. And certainly they will pay homage to Steve Smith, Downhill champion who died in May at 26 years old in his home town Nanaimo, in British Columbia, after an accident on his Enduro motorbike. Stevie Smith won 2013 DH World Cup together with UK’s Rachel Atherton, one of the famous protagonists of the Black Snake. In 2013 he finished third in the World Cup event in Val di Sole.
The Masters World Championship will be held in the week from 29 August to 4 September. Cross Country races will be held in Vermiglio and Downhill in Daolasa. At the same time the Trials events will take place in Vermiglio too. The O.C. Great Events has chosen to organize the World Champs entirely in the pristine nature of Val di Sole. In 2008 the races were held in the valley villages using existing difficulties or creating them artificially. This time nature will inspire course setters.
Val di Sole Bike Land is the world capital of Mountain Bike 2016 offering a wide range of events. The Elite World Championship 2016 will award the titles for Downhill, Trials and 4Cross while the Masters will feature Downhill and Cross Country. Downhill and 4Cross races will be held on the traditional tracks in Daolasa while Trials and Cross Country events will be held in Vermiglio.
The kick-off event will take place in Malè with the start and finish lines of the Val di Sole Marathon (28/8), a test for the national event to be held in 2017. Over 700 participants have already signed up. On 4 September, Vermiglio will be enlivened by the Coppa Italiana young. Over 400 possible future champions will battle it out on the World track. The O.C. reserved for them a ‘slice’ of World festival. There will also be two races dedicated to the very young: on 27 in Malè with the Mini Marathon and on 10 September the mini Cross Country Word Champs in Commezzadura.
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
