There’s no one paradise for a mountain bike. There are several and, by its very nature, it is even able to fashion new ones.
For instance, Utah’s Canyonlands and the mines of Monte Calamita in Capoliveri are two of the dazzling inventions that have become idyllic sites for off-road cycling.
The BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites loop (Sella Ronda Hero), on the other hand, does not have the spark of invention because this course seems created specifically for the purpose of admiring up close, without the need for a motor vehicle, stunning mountain ranges like the Odle Group, the peaks of Puez, the Piz Boè, the Sella Towers and, why not, the Sassolungo.
Nonetheless, in both cases, it is absolutely clear that there are places on earth that are impossible to take on, even for a 4×4, but which, by some ironic twist of fate, cyclists and bikes always find a way to conquer.
This is why the BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites puts the emphasis on the word “Hero”. Because the striking desire to get such a close view of the natural splendours of Val Gardena, Val Pusteria and Val di Fassa is without doubt powered by a strong element of heroism of those who -and there have been more than three thousand- to do this have pedalled as amateurs on a mountain bike for eighty-six kilometres, covering a very bumpy elevation gain of four thousand five hundred metres.
An eighty-six-kilometre-long convoy of mountain bikers who have vanquished the Dantercepies Pass, the Campolongo, the Pordoi and the Duron Pass and who formed the backbone of a race that welcomed the participation of the world’s best off-road specialists, both men and women.
The trail of the BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites 2021 was also the most prestigious proving ground of the new Urta SLR, which confirmed the high reliability of the tests carried out on Monte Calamita and for which the performance of young riders Nicola Taffarel and Lorenzo Trincheri couldn’t have provided a better stepping stone.
Nicola’s first place and Lorenzo’s sixth in the 60 km race are quite a comforting projection into the future for Team Wilier 7C Force, bearing in mind that they were achieved in one of the proclaimed paradises of mountain biking.