Routes, dirt roads and paths from Prosecco Cycling and the Gravel Contest to the Marca Bianca

Before the event of 2 October on the hills of the Unesco heritage. New partnership: on the 16th you ride between Montello and Colli Asolani

VALDOBBIADENE. They called it, ironically, “Gravel for the Maxima”. The “Maxima” are the two of them: Massimo Stefani and Massimo Panighel, well-known faces of the cycling of Marca, on and off-road.

The first organizes the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest, which on October 2, in Valdobbiadene, will enrich the traditional Prosecco Cycling billboard, which this year – on the road – will celebrate its nineteenth edition. The second is ready to launch Marca Bianca, an inclusive gravel event (open to all types of off-road bikes) between Montello and Colli Asolani, expected to debut two weeks later, on 16 October.

Stefani and Panighel have thought of an initiative to bring the two appointments together. The idea is simple, but engaging: all participants in the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest will receive free registration for Marca Bianca. A long “fil rouge” will thus ideally connect the hills of Valdobbiadene, Montello and the Asolo hills, riding the new, overbearing “gravel” phenomenon, which means a single bike for everything, from road to dirt, from non-extreme paths to gravel.

Participants in the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest and Marca Bianca will ride on fascinating routes from a landscape point of view, to be faced in total freedom and in symbiosis with nature: the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest does not include timing or any form of assistance, medical and mechanical , along the way. While Marca Bianca was born – on a track designed by AMG Alta Marca Gravel ASD – under the banner of a slogan that already says it all: “Ride and enjoy”. Ride and have fun. In short, much more tourism than competition.

Panighel, after having distinguished himself as organizer of major events dedicated to mountain biking (with the Pedali di Marca association, of which he is president, he set up the World Marathon Championships of 2011 in Montebelluna and of 2018 in Auronzo di Cadore, to which the 2010 European Marathon Championship in Montebelluna and five editions of the Italian Championships must be added), is among the promoters of the “Gravel in the land of Venice” project which, only for the Marca, provides a network of 1350 km of routes involving 80 of the 94 Municipalities of Treviso.

“More than a fashion, the gravel phenomenon was a revolution – says the indefatigable Panighel, during the weekend also involved with the organization of the Mythos Primiero Dolomiti dedicated to mountain bike enthusiasts of all levels – along dirt roads, roads white, gravel and beaten paths in nature, cycling is no longer just physical effort, but exploration and imagination. A new frontier, which even foreign enthusiasts love very much. And then, in a period of restart like this, cycling can become a fundamental element for economic recovery. All the more so in a province like ours where the routes suitable for gravel are innumerable and where there are all the conditions to best interpret a discipline that is growing with great speed ».

In the meantime, the account has begun overturns for the first two events, the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest, which includes a 60 km course with 1200 meters of elevation gain. The closing date for entries has been postponed from 11 to 18 September. One hundred places available. And the combination with traditional Prosecco Cycling constitutes an added value not to be overlooked.

“The start will take place in a single group – explains Stefani – for the participants the substantial differences compared to traditional Prosecco Cycling concern the use of the gravel bike and the need to follow the Gpx track of the route on dirt roads that we too have entrusted to the experience of AMG Alta Marca Gravel ASD. The Prosecco hills are particularly suitable for hosting a test of this type with a #amgstyle path. And the participants in the Gravel test will have the advantage of using the services offered by Prosecco Cycling ».

Those enrolled in the Prosecco Cycling Gravel Contest will receive the free package, the technical envelope with all the information to participate and an identification sign to be affixed to the bicycle. Then, once they cross the finish line in Valdobbiadene, in Piazza Marconi, the participants will discover the flavors of Prosciutto Dop and Casatella Trevigiana Dop and will participate in the Tiramisù Taste Event that will await them at Villa dei Cedri.