In the Marathon route, 76km with 2750m difference in height, an unprecedented climb is introduced, the Salita dei 3 Santi, which replaces the old climb of the paving.
Source: press release
It is a dirt climb on a typical volcanic surface, sometimes technical, which will immediately begin to make the selection and which will bring the bikers near the Old Craters of 1928. This is only a first taste of the beauty and uniqueness of the whole Marathon route. Another novelty is the introduction of the Path of the Wolves, which will replace the last part of the Kamikaze, the latter not usable because it is affected by deforestation works. The most iconic of the Etna Marathon sectors remains, the Black Desert: a single-track of almost 3 km that crosses a lava flow, suspended between the volcano and the sea.
The Gran Fondo route, 52km with 1750m difference in height, is extended by a few kilometers compared to last year to allow the granfondists to arrive in the northern part of the route, inside the magical Pineta Ragabo. It stretches a bit, but it's definitely worth it.
An absolute novelty for 2022 is the e-bike route, 45 km with 1500 meters of altitude difference, which will test the legs and batteries of e-bikers. The e-bikes will also tackle the Black Desert and all the final descents leading up to Milo's arrival
The excursion route rediscovers its initial philosophy of a "route for all": a circuit of about 20 km with 800 meters of altitude difference, suitable for any level of cyclist.
"It is important to underline that all the routes have been verified and developed after a long and careful cooperation between the Organizing Committee and the Etna Park Authority - says Maurizio Scalia - which has made it possible to find solutions capable of safeguarding the delicate natural environment. Etna, unique in the world for its specificities and beauties. Also for this reason - he continues - from this year the controls and penalties will be tightened against the bikers who will throw any type of refusal along the path: a simple visual signal by one of the marhsall on the path will be enough to trigger the immediate disqualification of the cyclist ".
The routes are currently still being prepared and cleaned and, although the GPS tracks are available on the race site, cyclists are invited to pay the utmost attention when tackling the tracks and paths. "As usual - declares Scalia - all tracks will be properly prepared within one week before the race. We can't wait to let you try them".
