– A sparkling second edition of the ‘XX Maremma Cup’ on launch pad
– The last four Olympic gold medallists, plus ten World champions at the start
– 2010 ‘XX Maremma Cup’ welcomes the mtb superstars from Feb 27th to Mar 07th
– The ASD Maremma Cup OC now dreams of the World Cup and World Championships
Italy’s Tuscany and Grosseto province start to feel the fever. An unusual ‘gold medal fever’ is mounting along the streets of Massa Marittima, and will be hitting the hilltop town from February 27th to March 07th 2010.
The last four Olympic gold medallists, namely Dutch Bart Brentjes (1996), French Miguel Martinez (2000) and Julien Absalon (2004 and ’08) have already booked their place in the 2010 ‘XX Maremma Cup’, along with the last six Cross Country World Championships winners, and the Marathon World Champions from 2004 onwards.
Last but not least, the three-time World champion and Olympic silver medallist Thomas Frischknecht is the brain and soul of the race organisation, and he is the 15th gold medallist in the list. Although he is not competing, Frischknecht will be managing an event that aims to be once again unique.
In the last few years, the greatest mtb champions have chosen Massa Marittima as their ‘vacation house’, where to ride their bikes through some of the most beautiful and entertaining mountain-biking tracks in the country.
High-sounding names such as Absalon, Schurter, Vogel, Hermida, Brentjes, Martinez, Näf, Paez, Fontana, Fruet, and Lechner, Schneitter and Campuzano among women, already appear on the start list of the 2010 ‘XX Maremma Cup’.
The ‘XX Maremma Cup’ was born in 2009, and this year the Italian Federation (FCI) decided that it will be the opening round of the ‘Internazionali d’Italia’ series, the most important MTB Cross Country Challenge in the country. The ASD Maremma Cup OC, headed by Francesco Cerdini and supported by Ernst Hutmacher, now dreams of the World Cup and World Championships in Grosseto province, maybe in 2011 already.
The two main races will take place on February 28th (Gran Prix d’Inverno – Italy’s XC Winter Grand Prix), and on March 07th (‘Internazionali d’Italia’ race).
The 2010 ‘XX Maremma Cup’ project will be ‘enriched’ by four other promotional races, also named ‘kermesses’, held throughout the week on the streets of Massa Marittima (Saturday February 27th and March 6th), Porto Santo Stefano (Tuesday March 2nd) and Grosseto (Thursday March 4th). The four races will be starting at 3.30pm, and this year they will be open to women as well as men.
Six races in nine days. Is that all? Not at all! On Sunday 07th March the ‘Flyer Race’ – on electric mountain bikes – will be ON, and two days before, mtb managers and mechanics will be competing in the ‘Industry Race’.
Info: www.maremmacup.com
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