Tomorrow – Sunday – space for the Specialized Lake Bash, this year's big news dedicated to gravel.
Source: press release
The second day of the 29th edition of the FSA Bike Festival-Garda Trentino was also characterized by a huge turnout of visitors who populated the expo area, confirming the positive sensations of the debut. Today, Saturday 29 April, was also dedicated to the SCOTT Bike Marathon, the most awaited race of the festival, in which 1.300 athletes took part on three different routes – Ronda Piccola, Ronda Grande and Ronda Extrema.
The Elite athletes competed on the most demanding track, the Ronda Extrema, with its 82,77 km and 3.484 meters of overall altitude difference, starting from the historic center of Riva del Garda up to the highest point in Malga Valbona (1.433 meters above sea level) and arrive at the finish line in Viale Rovereto, right in front of the expo area.
In the men's field, the race was won over the maximum distance by the Colombian two-time Marathon MTB World Champion Leonardo Paez (Soudal-Lee Cougan) who crossed the finish line in 3 hours 51 minutes and 16 seconds, with an advantage of 52 seconds on the Swiss Marc Stutzmann and the German Andreas Seewald – winner of the last edition of the Marathon -, both from Team Canyon Northwave.
The women's race saw the German Adelheid Morath (Mount7) triumph for the second consecutive year, crossing the finish line in 4 hours 42 minutes and 44 seconds (eight minutes less than in the last edition), while the Swiss Janina Wust completed the podium (BUFF Megamo Team) and the Lithuanian Katazina Sosna (Torpado Factory Team), one eleven and the other twelve minutes behind the winner.
Tonight, the grand finale of the day with the Open Night, which will enliven the expo area from 19:00 to 22:00, and after that the party will continue at the Spiaggia degli Olivi.
Tomorrow, Sunday 30 April, will be the time for this year's big news, the Specialized Lake Bash: for the first time in the history of the festival, a Gravel event will be held which will start, between 8:30 and 9:30, directly from the shores of Lake Garda. Everyone can decide whether to tackle it as a real race or as a tour, as the time will be timed only in specific marked sectors. Along the 100 km route (or 65 for the short loop) there will in fact be three timed fractions, while the remaining development will not count towards the ranking, thus allowing participants to pedal together, chat and admire the surrounding nature. Local specialties will also be served at the refreshment points, thus combining competition and the discovery of the beauties and food and wine of the area.
Also tomorrow, at 10:00, it will be the turn of the Bosch eMTB Challenge supported by Trek, a challenge that combines elements of Enduro, Downhill and Orienteering, specially dedicated to pedal assisted bikes.
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