The UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships return to Val Gardena in 2030

Published by Mountainblog on 09/26/2025.

Summer 2030 – the Dolomites will once again welcome international off-road cycling during the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships. The HERO Südtirol Dolomites Organising Committee has been tasked with organising and running the international championships between 13 and 16 June 2030.

After 15 years, Val Gardena will once again welcome the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships. In occasion of the 194th UCI Congress, which was held during the Road Cycling World Cup in Kigali, in Ruanda, the UCI announced the stage of the 2030 World Championships.

Cordiano Dagnoni, President of the Italian Cycling Fedeation, says: “Over the course of the last years, the HERO has become a point of reference for every cycling race – even non-marathon ones. Being selected as the host of the 2030 World Championships, exactly fifteen years after the first edition in the valley, is a duly deserved acknowledgement which rewards Gerhard Vanzi and his entire team, who’ve been able to deliver something new every edition and have raised the bar in terms of organisation, substantiality, and the technical skills required for the race. This award also confirms that our movement can host high-level events across all cycling sectors, relying on qualified companies and managers who, as is the HERO’s case, have ambitious and farsighted plans. I’d like to thank the Organisers as well as the local bodies and institutions which believe cycling can promote our beautiful country. Their commitment results in events which shine the limelight on the entire Italian sports movement.”

The HERO World Championships will include the two iconic trails which have made the race one to try at last once in the life of ever MTB enthusiast – the men’s 86 km and 4,500 hm and the women’s 60 km and 3,200 hm.

Arno Kompatscher, President of the Province of Bolzano, says: “It’s incredibly rewarding for all of Val Gardena who got behind the World Championship candidature as well as for the entire South Tyrolean sport community. The UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships were last held in Val Gardena fifteen years ago – and now they’re back, on a stage which seems to have been made for outdoor sports. I wish all the best to the HERO’s organisers for what will be a unique event.”

Tobias Nocker, Selva Val Gardena’s Mayor, says: “We in Selva Val Gardena are overjoyed by the fact the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships will be held as part of the HERO Südtirol Dolomites. The entire community is incredibly proud about this. The Championship is the perfect opportunity to shine the spotlight on mountain biking and the sports opportunities in our region. The HERO is much more than a race. It’s intrinsically linked to the local area and has been for years. The event unites people, marries a passion for sports and environmental sustainability, and shows how sports and the landscape can harmoniously integrate. As hosts, we cannot wait to welcome athletes and visitors from all over the world, offering them an unforgettable experience among the majestic Dolomites. The 2030 UCI Bike Marathon World Championship will take place among perfect conditions – our extraordinary landscape and the many demanding trails offering ideal conditions for cyclists from all over the world.”

Christoph Vinatzer, President of the Selva Val Gardena Tourism Office, says: “By having the HERO Südtirol Dolomites host the 2030 UCI Bike Marathon World Championship, the HERO is being pushed into the international limelight, yet it has always been an event which embodies sports at its very best. The HERO is more than just a race – it’s a challenge which physically and mentally puts athletes through the wringer, all set against the backdrop of the Dolomites. Back in 2015, the organisers were committed and put together a World Championship with professionalism. Selva Val Gardena and, in turn, the HERO, is now once again hosting the race, acknowledging the organiser’s constant work and sending a strong signal to further develop the marathon discipline within the UCI. Just a few months later, in February 2031, Selva di Val Gardena and the entire valley will host the Alpine Skiing World Championship which further strengthens the profile of the region as an international, high-level sports hub. I’m convinced that the 2030 event will be a high-octane race and will leave everyone speechless for its landscape, while also providing new impulses to the world of mountain biking.”

After the successful 2015 experience, the UCI Bike Marathon World Championship returns to the stunning Dolomites’ landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an area with a wealth of trails which attracts thousands of people between spring and autumn, for sustainable, low-impact, green tourism. Val Gardena is home to the HERO Südtirol Dolomites, a race which has achieved the reputation of being the toughest and most spectacular mountain bike marathon race in the world, while concomitantly managing to attract younger generations to the discipline over the last 15 years.

Gerhard Vanzi, organiser of the HERO Südtirol Dolomites, says: “We’re honoured and quite touched by being able to welcome such a prestigious championship to Val Gardena back. We’d like to thank the UCI for their renewed trust and all the local organisations which believed in the idea of organising a UCI Bike Marathon World Championship in Val Gardena.”

During the last World Cup at the HERO in 2025 Alaban Lakata, from Austria, won the race and his second title in the marathon discipline; while Gunn-Rita Dhale from Norway (gold medal at the 2004 Athens Cross-Country) won the women’s ranking and conquered her sixth world marathon participation.

INFO: Val Gardena