In 2019 the HERO Bike Festival will celebrate its tenth birthday, and it will be an important moment for an event which has revolutionised the world of mountain bike marathons. The date to remember is Saturday 15 June and the race will be run over the two traditional 86 and 60 kilometre routes, but first it will be necessary for you to secure your start number: registrations will open from 20.00 on Wednesday 12 September 2018.

It seems only yesterday but in fact almost ten years have passed since Saturday 26 June 2010, when 400 brave bikers set off from Selva Val Gardena for the first edition of a race which within just a few years would become recognised as the world’s toughest mountain bike marathon race.
That was the start of the HERO Südtirol Dolomites, it something more than a simple race: a project which for many participants was to become the main sporting aim of a season. Over the past ten years the HERO has grown as a race, and also in the popular imagination of bikers, all recognising that it is something which one must do at least “one time in your life”, because if you have not done the HERO there is no way that you can call yourself a “hero”.

To understand better the prestige of the HERO two numbers will suffice: in nine editions 17,669 bikers have put their names down on the starting list of the marathon, and 59 countries have been represented, an indication that the fame of the race has gone far beyond the Italian borders and established itself as an international race. It is with these figures and this knowledge in mind that we now begin our approach to the tenth edition of the HERO Südtirol Dolomites, scheduled for Saturday 15 June 2019 and to mark the occasion a new hashtag, #HEROX19 has been created.

On Wednesday 12 September race registration opens. The opening of registrations is on Wednesday 12 September 2018 at 20.00: the servers of the HERO and of Datasport will be ready to cope with the rush for registration, a rush which has characterised the opening of the registration moment over the years. The Organising Committee has fixed the limit of 4,019 participants. To mark the tenth edition, and as an exception this year, bikers who have at least two HERO participation to their name will be able to register in advance from Monday 10 September at 08.00.

This year it will be possible to register your own team, this provision only for the 86 kilometre route: every team will need to have a minimum of eight members (men and women combined) from the same club and with a Master category classification. New also this year is the fact that ladies with club membership can compete in the 86 kilometre race.

HERO Charity 2019: support the young sporting talent of our champions to be!

Again, in the 2019 edition the HERO Südtirol Dolomites will support Sporthilfe Alto Adige, the not for profit association, the main objective of which is to support the young sporting talent of South Tyrol.

All HERO bikers wishing to support this initiative will have the chance to start from the “Sporthilfe Alto Adige” grid and right behind the Elite bikers in that race category. Bikers registered for the 86 Km race will set off in this third grid at 7.30, whilst those down for the 60 Km race will be in the ninth grid setting off at 8.05. To take advantage of this privilege it will be sufficient to follow the procedure on the Datasport portal and, as well as confirming the registration fee, add to the trolley the “Priority Start” option to the value of 50.00 Euro.
The fee collected will be devolved entirely to the Sporthilfe Alto Adige association.

«Certainly, it will be a HERO Bike Festival 2019 to celebrate the ten years of success and countless thrills and memories, and the race will not only be an objective reached but an opportunity to promote mountain biking in the Dolomites to an international audience. This the comment of Gerhard Vanzi, Head of the Organising Committee. »

The 2019 HERO Südtirol Dolomites is a race not to miss, and there will be a celebratory HEROX19 t-shirt which can be purchased at the time of race registration.

For further information: www.herodolomites.com