Last weekend was one of Sally’s favourite races: Sellaronda Hero MTB Marathon, arguably the world’s hardest mountain bike race, in the heart of the amazing Italian Dolomites.

The Sellaronda Hero is  a special race not least because of the dramatic location – some of the world’s the most spectacular mountains – but also as Sally reported to us, “because the organisation and media coverage is exceptionally good (2 hours of live coverage on Eurosport!)”. 

Set in the Italian Dolomites the race circumnavigates the infamous Sella group sending riding up and down four unbelievably steep mountain passes that require the smallest of front chainrings! The altitude – between 1600m and 2300m – also adds to the challenge of the race as does the weather! Heavy rain and thunder storms in the days and night before had softened the ground and made the climbs even harder, soft ground sucking the power from the wheels – and the descents more slippery and tricky. Starting at 7.10 am is another challenge; it’s not so easy to eat breakfast at 4.45am! However, this only makes the race even more appealing to the thousands of riders who love to tackle and conquer it.

Here’s a link to the Eurosport TV coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7NvUDwVdjs