Cyclopaat, an alter ego with a twist
The Maratona dles Dolomites is another one of these events that is hard to get a ticket for and I eventually cycled it all by myself in 2020, the Queen Stage of my Giro that year.
Veneto is a region located in the north-eastern part of Italy.
It is bordered to the east by Friuli-Venezia Giulia, to the south by Emilia-Romagna, to the west by Lombardy and to the north by Trentino–Alto Adige.
In its northernmost corner (Belluno) it also borders Austria.
If the long course of the Maratona dles Dolomites is not hard enough for you, try the Supermaratona.
That is 286.6 kilometers long, with 8,400 meters of D+ featuring several “bonus” passes, apart from the ones in the Percorso Maratona with the Sella Ronda loop as the final.
These are: from Corvara counterclockwise over the Gardena / Sella combo, the easy end of the Passo Fedaia, the Passo Duran, the Forcella Staulanza and the Passo Tre Croci. It also tackles the whole length of the Valparola from Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The Supermaratona is not a timed event, and you can ride it at your own pace. However, if you’re able to complete it in one day, you’ll enter the Supermaratona Hall of Fame and receive a unique cap.
More on the official Maratona dles Dolomites pages.
An ongoing display of “Too much time on my hands” and “I have no life”…
I have added pages for my favorite Granfondos – I know you love it 😂
They are: the Maratona dles Dolomites, the Marmotte Alpes and the Sella Ronda Bike Day.
Yes, I could have spared myself the effort of creating a page for the latter, as it is part of the long version of the Maratona.
Did you not understand the first sentence of this post?
The Maratona dles Dolomites is, like the classic Marmotte Alpes in France, one of these events that is hard to get a ticket for.
While an entry ticket itself carries a fee of €150, which is reasonable, there is hardly a guarantee that you will actually get one.
Unless you buy a package via the Official Tour Operators, and you’ll be lucky to get away with a package costing less than €1,500…
However, and to be honest, these all inclusive packages are often multi-day events, including other scheduled rides.
Still, I think it’s a lot of money for – basically – one day of cycling…
So, how did I fare this Giro d’Italia 2020, compared to what I had in mind beforehand?
Well, I choked on the Mortirolo (from Mazzo) again and – barely – made it up the Bernina, all the way from Tirano.
The difference with last year being, that this did not happen during the same stage and that the Mortirolo was just as hot, but the Bernina was the coldest of all.
But, I kinda, sorta, had my revenge on the Mortirolo, as I was on its summit no less than four times, twice during the same stage.
I also ended up on the Stelvio summit three times, during my prologue and as finishes for stages 7 and 9.
And, I was able to complete the Maratona dles Dolomites, which had been on my to-do/wish list, since I first visited the Dolomites in 2011.
Not surprisingly, that stage (6) also came with the highest elevation difference (D+) of all stages: almost 4,250 meters.
