Maratona dles Dolomites: fighting 'the fear' in face of daunting challenge

Before an epic Italian Gran Fondo, Oliver Duggan gets a bout of that ‘can’t do it’ feeling – but there are tricks on and off the bike that help build confidence

From the start line, it is a bike race like no other. Conceived 30 years ago by a small group of fiercely dedicated Italian cyclists, the Maratona dles Dolomites has grown to become one of the most sought-after cycling experiences in the world; a one-day sportive set deep in the Italian Dolomites, starting and finishing in the ski resort of Alta Badia. It now attracts 30,000 applicants for its 9,800 places every year and before 6am one Sunday morning last month, the participants gathered beneath low-hanging cloud ahead of the 2016 starting gun.

It begins amid near-constant noise. A Ladin (the local name for Alta Badians) octet of local musicians play, a helicopter streaming six hours of live coverage to Italian national television whirrs overhead and a series of hot air balloons take off just feet from the starting enclosure. Over the following five to nine hours, (depending on each rider’s speed and fitness), this long, stretched-out peloton of amateur cyclists faces an uninterrupted assault on the senses.

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