A Love Letter to Val di Sole From a Super Fan
The usual big Crowd at the bottom
I'm Italian born and raised in Rome, the eternal city. Living far from the mountains, in a big city, where football and motorsports are the main and only focus, is hard. In a country with such beautiful mountains and breathtaking trails, it is agony waiting the whole year just for those two weeks of holiday during the summer.
Hugo Frixtalon not following fans advices
Since we do not have an iconic history in mountain biking, especially in downhill, or famous athletes, you end up playing football and supporting Valentino Rossi. I haven't forgotten Paola Pezzo of course, but I was just 9 years old when she won her Olympic Gold Medal. That was more than 20 years ago and millennials probably have never even heard about her victories.
Gee Atherton enchanting the crowd
Last year I finally decided that RedBull TV, YouTube and Pinkbike weren't enough to feed my love for knobby tires and I took a train to Val di Sole (actually from Rome was three trains for a total 9-hour trip). It was so AMAZING that I came back again this year. Last year was amazing not just because it was Italy. I'm sure any other UCI Downhill World Cup venue would have had the same effect on me.
Bryn Dickerson
Walking through the pits, watching the mechanics setting bikes, seeing the humble riders just a few meters away from you preparing to race, thousands of people coming all the way up to north Italy just to walk down the track, cheering and making noise for the love of the sport.
Rachel flat out.
Downhilll is still different from other mainstream-sport worlds. You can easily stand at the finish line watching the last riders coming down the track on the screen next to the Athertons, and that's awesome.
Gee And Rachel enjoying the race with the crowd.
So this year I decided to come back, driving all the way up from Milan, just for the race day.
Tracey Hannah coming aggressive into the corner
The rolling chains, the fork and shock sounds, the chainsaws, was all I came for.
Camila Nogueira smashing the first jump
Descending the track, changing position one rider a time, cheering and sharing moments with the fans made my day.
It is always selfie time
I wanted to enjoy the show, and contribute as much as I could for every mountain bike lover around the globe who devours any piece of video, picture or content around the web to feed their passion.
Mark Wallace shredding the snake
I took few shots, hoping it will be good enough to satisfy those who were unable to attend this round.
Samuel Blenkinsop like no ones
Dedicated to my friend Aiden, that last year came all the way from London, for the same purpose. To our passion, against all boundaries and limits.
Author Info:
Member since Jun 16, 2018
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Puzzles me that Italy doesn't have top DH racers for many years now. We got to back to 97 for Corrado Herin or even more for Giovanna Bonnazi to find Italians on a podium of a DH WC .
Why is that? Sure ain't for lack of mountains!
- enduro vibe in italy is good, but DH vibe it isn't: all alpha macho
- generalizing, the average Italian downhiller is all geared up with full DH kit but sending it at the bar mainly
- not a lot of lift access DH places
- Italians are italians
I'd also add the lack of a modern sense of business.
Except few locations (Finale, Livigno, Lago di Garda - others?), most of the riding areas do not exploit the all-mountain/enduro phenomenon at all. I'm originally from Romagna where we have so many good trails that other more well known locations can only dream of having. And this holds for so many places in central-north and central Italy.
But no one ever harnessed these opportunities... Everything is still to tied to road cycling and XC.
Bottom line -> no organization for young people MTB development.
the nice weather in Muttiland explains the lack of good Dhers there too
Rubber side down all and #sendit
the 9 hour train ride isn't that bad either. in canada you can't even drive across 1 province in 9 hours, let alot up to the top of it.
@renio_rides_bikes
Ciao belle Italia!
I wonder how old is the person writing this blob and if he is from the actual city?
Rome is the greenest city in europe. Meaning there are more parks than any other place.
And you can ride in the parks, that are huge comparing to what we have in the States.
And nobody is going to give you a ticket for riding a bicycle.
No mountains? Rome has Mountain Ranges within the city municipality / 30 min away. Monte gennaro 1400 mt? Monte Albano 1100 mt?
Gran Sasso 1 hour away?
And within the city there are several great place to ride that beat what you can find in most towns.
I have spent months in Denver, SF, LA, Vegas, Boston, London, Berlin, Hamburg, NY, Paris, Rome, Milan... you know which place has the best riding by far?
Rome.
In Rome you see way more people cycling than all cities above. Meaning cyclists, not commuters.
Rome has some of the oldest teams in Italy.
Several frame builders.
Hosted the WC in villa ada.
One of the first italian mtb was built by Caldaro Cicli.
First winner of Giro d’Italia.
Has some bike shops / mechanics ie La Tana dei Bugiardi, that are second to none as far as history.
It does not have an history in dh? For sure.
But there are several races you can see nowdays, dont have to go to val di sole.
Rome has a considerable cycling history and it should not be dismissed by a kid that doesn’t seem to know the whereabouts of what he claims to be his city.
Its not even on that list