Record hero top team – Paez and Schwing aim for third victory

The Sellaronda Hero, which is also part of the UCI MTB Marathon Series this year, was held for the first time in 2010. It leads around the Sella Group and the Sassolungo through Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba, the Fassa Valley and the Seiser Alm. Start and finish are in Wolkenstein. Participants can choose from two routes of 84 km/4.300 meters in altitude and 62 km/3.300 meters in altitude through the provinces of Bolzano, Trento and Belluno.

The most successful athletes so far have been Katrin Schwing from Germany and Leonardo Paez from Colombia. They have each won the prestigious marathon twice. The South Tyrolean Klaus Fontana, the Italians Anna Ferrari (2010) and Mirko Celestino (2011) as well as the British Sally Bigham (2013), however, climbed to the top podium once. In the nations rankings, Italy leads with three wins, ahead of Germany and Colombia with two and Great Britain with one win.

Hector Leonardo Paez has his sights set on a third win in a row 70 elite riders are at the start, including 50 men and 20 women. The field of favorites this year is led by Hector Leonardo Paez. The 2013 World Championships bronze medalist has his sights set on his third victory in a row, which is why he has prepared intensively for it together with his team partner and former Italian champion Tony Longo, who came fourth last year and dictated the pace for much of the marathon. With Urs Huber from Switzerland and Steffen Thum from Germany, there are two other hot contenders for overall victory. They are ranked first and second in the UCI Marathon Series rankings after six races. The Italian phalanx is led by newly crowned marathon champion Samuele Porro, who left behind Juri Ragnoli, Luca Ronchi and Daniele Mensi of the same age at the championships two weeks ago. Also worth noting are Mirko Celestino, winner in 2011, as well as Massimo Debertolis, the 2004 world champion, and marathon record winner Marzio Deho. From a South Tyrolean perspective, Hannes Pallhuber, eighth in the Italian Championships, Klaus Fontana, winner of the first edition in 2010, and Sarner Franz Hofer will try to declare war on the “big ones”.

Katrin Schwing wants to win back the title

In the women's category, the German double winner Katrin Schwing wants to regain the hero title after having to give it up last year to the eventual British runner-up Sally Bigham. She faces competition from Borghild Loevset from Norway, who came third in the UCI MTB Marathon Series in France in April and won the MTB-Transalp in 2013 with Sally Bigham. After her second place at the Sellaronda Hero 2013, the 2013 Italian marathon champion and this year's runner-up, Elena Gaddoni, would also like to have a strong say in the victory. Also at the start are Verena Krenslehner from Austria, ninth in the UCI Marathon Series and second in 2012, as well as the Trentino marathon specialist Lorenza Menapace.

The top riders will arrive in mid-week to test the course, where significant improvements have been made. Both routes are “in excellent condition,” as race director Peter Runggaldier says, but in some places they are not yet completely free of snow. This is the case in the Arabba area, where up to 10 meters of snow fell in the winter, which is why diversions may occur at short notice.

The Sellaronda Hero will host the UCI Marathon World Championships in 2015. It is one of the most demanding, spectacular and scenic MTB marathons in the world. According to several top athletes, it is the toughest international mountain bike marathon ever. Around 500 volunteers help organize the major event.

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Record hero top team – Paez and Schwing aim for third victory

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