Val di Fassa will be under the spotlight as enduro elevates to UCI World Cup status
The big days of sport in Val di Fassa – 24-25 June 2023 – are not to be missed. The ingredients for a great show are all there: the strongest teams with the fastest athletes on the planet, exciting down-to-the-wire battles, massive team trucks with the most skilled mechanics hard at work, the best brands in the bike industry and, obviously, a top-level race course over the trails of the Fassa Bike District.
And in the amazing setting of the Dolomites of Val di Fassa is about to land the spectacle of the World Cup – only just born in its enduro livery: the UCI Enduro World Cup Val di Fassa Trentino.
It is thanks to the recent collaboration between the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) and WBD (Warner Bros. Discovery), that the UCI Mountain Bike World Series has come into being: a series of competitions that brings together all the main and most exciting mountain-bike racing formats.
In 2023, joining Downhill and Cross-country, Enduro enters the pantheon of the UCI disciplines – and the round of Val di Fassa Trentino goes with it too. Since its debut, Val di Fassa has always been one of the most popular locations for riders and enthusiasts alike; for the scenery of its landscapes, the quality of the trails and for the friendly welcoming visitors to the area receive. The formalization and the UCI status, together with the great media attention that follows, just add to the competition and to the whole event that extra buzz of excitement, expectation and thrill – as it always happens at the greatest sport events.
And to improve the services and the level of enjoyment for participants and spectators – whose attendance figures keep growing year after year – Organizers Board Fassa Bike has changed the location of the Expo Area and Event Village, team pits included. The beating heart of the event, with the main stage and all of the services, moves a short distance from Canazei town centre to the more open and suitable area along the Avisio river. Strategically, a stone’s throw from the Event Village is the bottom station of the ski lift, the Canazei-Pecol gondola, that will play a crucial role to go and watch the race trackside. As a matter of fact, the Val di Fassa race is one of the few on the calendar that will allow the public to get up close to the Special Stages – even those at high altitude – making the most of the FassaLift gondola and, along the way, offering amazing views on the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With the UCI status, regulations and rules of entry have changed slightly. The UCI World Cup Val di Fassa Trentino remains an event which amateur racers will be able to participate in alongside elite riders, with competitions scheduled on the Saturday for both the enduro (EDR) and the electric category (E-EDR), at its debut in Val di Fassa.
And while the event grows in weight and prestige, one of the main objectives remains that of reducing as much as possible the environmental impact it may have, thanks to a number of efforts in line with the Eco-Eventi Trentino protocols.
“The natural environment of the Dolomites UNESCO world heritage site requires great care and a sustainable approach and, if we want to keep growing alongside the events and the tourist flows, we must take this into account” says Nicolò Weiss, product manager at Val di Fassa Tourist Promotion Board.
Trentino is not only going to mean Enduro in Val di Fassa: Downhill and Cross-country will take centre stage during the Val di Sole round, in a combination that is going to position our region on the world map of mountain-biking for two weeks, attracting thousands of enthusiasts to our mountains.
Italiano