Maratona dles Dolomites 2013 Sportive

The Maratona dles Dolomites is one of Europe's most famous sportives with three different routes available. First held in 1987 it rapidly grew into one of Italy's most commended gran fondos. Chaotic at time, it sees 9,000 riders taking part. The Maratona is always massively oversubscribed. In 2012 29,100 people applied for the 4,800 general tickets that were available to the public (all the rest are allocated to official organisations, tour operators etc). A lottery decides who obtains an entry but a small number of tickets go on sale for those willing to pay - with all funds going to charity. For the 2013 event registration for the draw took place between October 17th to November 7th 2012. So if you want to ride the Maratona in 2013 you will need to be super alert on March 27th 2013 to sign up for one of the 190 charity places that will be sold on www.maratona.it. To give you some idea of what you might have to pay, in 2012 the 175 Gold registrations went for a total price of 200 euros each and the 15 Platinum registrations went for 400 euros each. Those riding the main Maratona route will find the following main climbs: Campolongo Pass: 5.8 km, Average gradient: 6.1% Pordoi Pass: 9.2 km, Average gradient: 6.9% Sella Pass: 5.5 km, Average gradient: 7.9% Gardena Pass: 5.8 km, Average gradient: 4.3% Campolongo Pass: 5.8 km, Average gradient: 6.1% Giau Pass: 9.9 km, Average gradient: 9.3% Falzarego Pass/Valparola Pass: 11.5 km, Average gradient: 5.8%