On Saturday 29 June Canazei and Val di Fassa, debuting with an EWS race, will host the fourth round of the 2019 season. The map of the race course has been unveiled today.
After an amazing winter season, Val di Fassa celebrates the beginning of an extraordinary summer with the great appointment MET Enduro World Series Val di Fassa, scheduled for Saturday 29nd June. In a world cup atmosphere, Canazei and the Val di Fassa are preparing to welcome hundreds of bikers and enthusiasts to this location nestled between the splendid peaks of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is making its EWS debut. A highly anticipated race, already sold out after a few hours from the opening of registrations which, as the fourth round of a season of 8 stages around the globe (New Zealand, Tasmania, Portugal, Italy, France, Canada, California and Switzerland ), represents the halfway point of the circuit and certainly promises great battles and an incredible show.
I 400 athletes in the race coming from 18 nations they will compete along an unprecedented race course announced today and on which the riders will be able to put their wheels on for the first time starting from Thursday 27. The official tests, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, will therefore allow them to test the new trails created thanks to the work of the Fassabike team which, in the protection of a UNESCO World Heritage area, has modeled the tracks specifically for the EWS competition.
It is 5 special stages for a total of 41km e 3.000m of difference in altitude, partly covered by mechanized lifts. Three lifts that will be used by the competitors in the race, two of which this year open for the first time to bikes and are the Ciampac and the Pradel cable car. This already suggests how much the race lap may still be to be discovered.
The Belgian Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) will lead the series in the Men's Open category, while the French Isabeau Courdurier (Intense Mavic Collective) in the women's category. Both riders now live in an incredible state of form that has led them to dominate the season so far by winning each of the three stages that have taken place. This is why they will arrive in Italy determined more than ever to repeat themselves and confirm their leadership in the standings.
The result, however, will be far from obvious. This round of the Val di Fassa, as well as being one new entry of the circuit, is the first mountain race of the season, one alpine race, with important differences in height and paths that cross different environments and terrains. Furthermore, the fact that part of the transfers will be carried out with the help of the ski lifts, another before 2019, allows you to easily gain altitude and make the timed descents even longer and more exciting.
So declares Fausto Lorenz, president of the Val di Fassa Tourist Board: «The Enduro World Series represents a prestigious opportunity to present the Val di Fassa and its growth, in recent years, in the bike offer to a wide audience of enthusiasts. The debut in the EWS is an important milestone reached both for the entire valley and for the Fassa Bike team who worked hard on this event and also on the preparation of itineraries that make Val di Fassa a bike destination of growing appeal. For us it is undoubtedly a source of pride to give rise to a challenge of the best riders in the world who, on this occasion, also become testimonials of the level of hospitality destined for a constantly growing tourist market and, for this reason, of significant interest».
For the public, the MET EWS Val di Fassa show will not be just competition. The center of Canazei, Via Roma, will be colored and come to life with the setting up of thepaddock area and the event village as early as Friday morning. Among the streets of the country supporters and enthusiasts will be able to find the stands of the main sponsors, leading brands in the sector such as MET, meet their favorite riders and the staff at work. In addition, at Met EWS Val di Fassa everyone will be able to experience the event as protagonists and pedal along the race paths on which the fastest riders in the world will have challenged each other. How? With the EWS Bike Days you can buy a bike pass at the special price of 50 euros (available at the ticket office of the lifts) valid for the days of Saturday 29 and Sunday 30, this will allow you to climb to the top and assist, along the Special Stages, the passage of the riders during the race and, the next day, travel in first person those race tracks still taped, participate in excursions with local Fassabike guides or test all MET products in person together with the best riders of the Team. A truly unique opportunity that will allow you to get even more into the heart of this international mtb enduro event.
Let the great MET Enduro World Series Val di Fassa adventure begin.
