HERO Südtirol Dolomites: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The start is at 07:20 in Str. Meisules in Selva Val Gardena, and the first climb begins a hundred metres past the line.4.9 kilometres averaging 13.6 percent with ramps beyond 26 percent lead to Dantercepies at 2,298 metres, the first peak prize of the day. The course then drops to Corvara before the second climb, 4.7 kilometres at 10.9 percent from kilometre 13, takes you up to Pralongia at 2,157 metres. Over the Passo Campolongo the route descends to Arabba.

From Arabba the long distance rides its own loop, and that is where the hardest ramp of the race sits: at kilometre 34, three and a half kilometres averaging sixteen percent with pitches around 36 percent towards Porta Vescovo and Renaz. Only then comes the Passo Pordoi at kilometre 48 and 2,239 metres, followed by the long descent to Canazei and Campitello at 1,450 metres, the low point of the loop. What remains is the climb to the Passo Duron at 2,280 metres, the second peak prize, and from kilometre 71 the last ramp from the Tirler junction up to Zallinger, where the Avirex HERO Challenge over 3.5 kilometres and 300 metres of climbing is timed separately. From there the course falls back into Selva.

All of this is ridden in one of the best known settings in the Alps, across the Seiser Alm, at 57 square kilometres the largest high alpine plateau in Europe, and around the Sassolungo, Sella and Pordoi massifs. The field is capped at 3,027 riders, half the places are reserved for entrants from outside Italy, and the elite race a round of the HERO UCI Marathon World Cup at the same time. The finish is the Piazza Nives in the middle of the village, with the medal plaza, the pasta party and a ceremony for the last finisher at 19:15.

Pacing Strategy

The gradient split explains this race better than any route description: barely six percent flat, and almost twenty nine percent each of steep uphill and steep downhill. There is no rolling section where a group carries you and no place where time simply runs. The first climb starts a hundred metres past the line, from a standstill onto 13.6 percent, and that is where most riders lose their day. Ride it deliberately as your warm up and accept the places you give away, because you get them back on the Passo Pordoi.

The race is decided between Arabba and the Pordoi. The ramp at kilometre 34, averaging sixteen percent, is where an over ambitious first hour turns into cramp, and the long haul to the Pordoi sits right behind it. Plan conservatively here and use the Arabba feed, open until 13:30, for a full restock.

The closing section is a chapter of its own. After the Passo Duron the Zallinger ramp arrives at kilometre 71, where the Avirex HERO Challenge is timed, and chasing it when the legs are gone costs more time in the technical descent to Selva than it can ever win at the top. The organiser's checkpoints give you a clear frame: I Tabla by 11:45, Passo Campolongo by 12:20, Renaz by 13:00, Passo Pordoi by 15:15 and the finish by 19:15.

Training plan for HERO Südtirol Dolomites: 12-week build

For a committed age group rider the effort runs from about five and a half to eight hours, with the finish line closing twelve hours after the first start. The demand is that of a mountain race in instalments: eight recognised climbs, four of them with more than 300 metres of gain in one piece, and almost nothing but steep descending in between. Endurance alone does not carry you here, because every gradient after the first hour pushes you back into the upper range.

The opening climb, the sixteen percent ramp at kilometre 34 and the Zallinger ramp in the final third are what decide the race. Train climbs of twenty to fifty minutes at double digit gradients, and do it on loose ground, where traction and seated position help determine your output. Add short, very steep blocks of two to four minutes, because ramps beyond thirty percent are ridden out of the saddle or pushed on foot, and both want practice.

Descending is the second training topic, not the leftover. Almost thirty percent of the route is steep descent on alpine ground, and the longest descents arrive after four and after six hours in the saddle. Ride technical descents regularly when tired, and practise the short pushing and carrying sections this course includes.

Conditions are alpine and matter in June. The course moves between 1,450 and nearly 2,350 metres, the start falls in the cold morning hours and the pass summits can be wet, windy or hot. Plan altitude training or at least several long rides high up, rehearse the food you have to carry yourself between the stations at Corvara, Arabba, Porta Vescovo, Pian de Schiavaneis and Passo Duron, and choose gearing that still turns thirteen percent after five hours.