Niederdorf (South Tyrol/Italy)11th June 2013 - In less than a month, the 19th Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike will take place. The mountain bike marathon in Alta Pusteria is the eighth race on the UCI Marathon World Series and commences on Saturday July 6th. In order to meet the regulations of the International Cycling Union, the organizing committee had to establish an additional route for the elite women. The UCI requirement for women participating in the Marathon World Series stipulates distances between 60 and 90 km.
For this reason, the participants this year have three distances to choose from; a short, middle and a long one. The middle distance is solely for the elite women which will include some the best riders in the world. The distance measures 80 km at 2 307 meters above sea level. The race course follows the long haul as far as San Candido. In the Alta Pusteria main centre, it branches off from the castle on a semi difficult ascent towards Haunhold. From the mountain station it continues downwards towards Dobbiaco and from there it goes via the Höhlenstein valley (Landro) up to Plätzwiese (Prato Piazza). The descent over Prags leads back to the concluding goal in Niederdorf. The start is at 07.15 so as to avoid an overlap with the other racing categories at the finish.
Long and short haul - The men's World Cup distance is 113.8 km long. The difference in altitude is 3,357 metres on the ascent. The short course measures 60.5 kilometres with an altitude difference of 1785 metres. In contrast to recent to previous years, no changes to the course have been made. There are two special awards namely the Haunold Mountain Prize and Marlene sprint in San Candido.
The start is on the main road at the village square in Niederdorf. Shortly after the start, the bikers embark on an asphalt road constantly sloping upwards for 4 kilometres that leads to the Egger Mountain and up to an observation point. Thereafter, the obstacle course discharges through a forest that leads the contestants through easy terrain that reaches Silvestertal (S. Silvestro). After a short but very technical descent, the 60 km route at Kurter-yard goes via the Weiler Wahlen back to the station in Dobbiaco. The course crosses over the cycle track, then carries on to Höhlenstein (Landro) in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo, from where a seven kilometre long climb innitially begins to Prato Piazza over Prags and back to Niederdorf.
The long route branches off from Kurter-yard downwards into to the Silvester alpine pasture. From here it continues down to Vierschach and then on to San Candido encumbering the most difficult ascent towards the mountain station in the ski region of the Helm and at after technical descent it arrives at the Croda Rossa ski resort at Sesto. It veers out of the valley and turns into Innerfeld valley. The rise to the former Wildbad brings the bikers to the ski area of Haunold. From there it goes through the toboggan run back to Dobbiaco. The rest of the route meets up with the short course.
"Because of the immense snowfall on the route, training can only commence from mid-June," said OC President Kurt Ploner.
APP with new tracking system - In just three weeks a new APP for Smartphones will be available to all participants. It has been redesigned and contains essentially all menu items of the website for the 19th rendition of the Dolomiti Superbike. In addition, there is a "rescue button" that assists First aiders to intervene quickly and efficiently in the event of an accident allowing for its position to be determined using GPS coordinates accurately. In addition by unlocking the device, the new tracking system permits the users at any point of the race to establish the exact position of the contestant.
Source: press release