Professional racers have it pretty damn good: they cross the finish line, hand over their work equipment to their own service team and then take a relaxing stroll to the spa area of their booked hotel. As an amateur rider, you have a lot more to do after a race before the regeneration period can begin. Unless, of course, you take part in the BIKE Transalp. Here, all participants receive the same service for seven days. This is because the workshop tents are already waiting behind the finish arch in every stage town: the guys from Maxxis solve all tyre problems until late into the night and ensure the optimum tyre pressure in alpine terrain.
If you have a Scott bike at the start, you will even get your bike back fine-tuned and polished to a shine by the next morning. Just like the professionals. And you end up meeting them at the Jentschura stand, because they are also treating themselves to an alkaline footbath and talking shop about the same race course that you have just conquered yourself. You simply sit down, eat a few tasty carbohydrates as a first regeneration measure and get a few tips from the experienced marathon runners on how to organise tomorrow's stage. Advice and assistance for all medical problems is available at the Transalp Rescue Team stand and no less healing hands on one of the mobile massage benches. You will see: After this week, you will not only have the legs, but also the knowledge and experience of a professional biker.
And this is what stage 6 of the Maxxis BIKE Transalp 2024 looks like this year: 700 metres less altitude than the day beforebut a longer carrying section that is well worth organising. In addition, the impressive backdrop of the Adamello and Brenta massifs and a forest trail, the difficulty of which is determined by the weather:
Stage 6: Malè - Roncone in the Valle del Chiese
- Length: 68.62 kilometres
- Uphill: 2502 metres in altitude
- Difficulty: difficult
Route description:
The sixth stage of the Maxxis BIKE Transalp runs through Canada between the two rocky bastions of the Adamello and Brenta massifs. At least that's what today's landscape suggests: The route leads through a lot of forest, there is water to marvel at in the form of rivers, streams, lakes and waterfalls and in between, the partly glaciated steep faces of the 3000 metre peaks flash up again and again to the right and left. The highlight of the day is the 1836 metre high Passo Bregn da l'Ors. This pass in the heart of the Brenta Dolomites is a tough climb (approx. 200 metres in altitude), but the landscape at Lago di Val d'Agola and later in the incredibly beautiful Val d'Algone do everything they can to distract you from these exertions. In the small mountain village of Casarole, a zigzag trail in the forest (500 metres downhill) finally leads down from this viewing platform and then over into the original Valle del Chiese, where the finish bend near a bathing lake awaits in Roncone.
Not registered yet? Click here for the race number issue:
The BIKE Transalp 2024 starts on Sunday 14 July in Ehrwald and ends on 20 July in Arco on Lake Garda.
The route in total: 520 kilometres/17215 vertical metres/7 stages. All information on registration can be found here. With just a few steps you can next to Mona and Phillip at the start.
Stage 7: Valle del Chiese
The BIKE Transalp stage town of Roncone is located in the Valle del Chiese. An unspoilt valley in Trentino that stretches from the Brenta to Lake Idro. Its mountain flanks are reminiscent of Canadian wilderness.
So far, every mountain biker who has ever strayed into the mountains north-west of Lake Garda has returned with shining eyes. And with the realisation: unbelievable, there are many, many more trails! Exactly. Just because touring pope Elmar Moser once drew his personal boundaries around Lago Nord doesn't mean that the world simply ends behind Lake Ledro. On the contrary! The Valle di Ledro and Valli Giudicarie valleys behind it open up completely new horizons, especially for mountain bikers. This is because the front line of the First World War once ran through here too, and many military trails were carved into the rocks. Trails that are perfect for biking today. The difference is that you have these trails almost to yourself.
The village of Roncone has draped itself on the southern shore of a small lake in the Valle del Chiese. To the right and left, you can see the forest slopes, with the bare rocks of the Brenta and the Adamello massif peaking into the sky above. If you follow the gravel tracks up through the forest, the trees soon recede more and more and the ribbon of path unrolls into wide, lush alpine meadows. They are bordered by the steep walls of the Brenta, which are pretty much impregnable for mountain bikers. Only the 1836 metre high Passo Bregn da l'Ors is worth climbing via a longer pushing passage. This brings you even closer to spectacular 3000 metre peaks and on the other side, a one kilometre long, somewhat rocky mountain trail takes over, which can be ridden quite nicely with a bit of momentum. The real highlight of this tour, however, is the subsequent descent into Val d'Algone. Here, at the latest, you feel like you're in Canada. Especially as it is not impossible that you will come across traces of brown bears here, as there are currently around 70 of these shy animals living in the Adamello Brenta Nature Park. Lynx and wolves are also slowly returning to this region.
Constant companion: crystal-clear mountain water
Back in the valley, the first thing you are likely to do is take a dip in the small Lake Roncone and then enjoy some particularly authentic Trentino cuisine. The Valle del Chiese is famous for its speciality polenta, which is made here from yellow corn flour and reddish buckwheat. If you're lucky, you might even catch a mountain festival on your tour where this speciality is served with goulash or mushroom ragout. Another thing you shouldn't miss if you're a canyoning fan: a tour through the 16-kilometre-long Palvico mountain stream, which flows into the Chiese river at Storo. Here you follow the wild and crystal-clear ribbon of water through a steeply carved canyon, jumping from rock pool to rock pool and dropping down a 50 metre high waterfall.
Info Valle del Chiese
The region: The small village of Roncone is located in the Valle del Chiese region. The valley between the two national parks Adamello and Brenta is only half an hour's drive from the tourist hotspots Ledro Valley and Lake Garda, but surprises with a lonely mountain world: forests, vast alpine flower meadows, mountain lakes, waterfalls and the reintroduced golden eagles circling in the sky.
Tip for supertrail fans: From here it is also not far to the top spot of Lake Idro (20 min.).
Canyoning tours: If it's too hot for biking, various canyoning tours promise to cool you down. From 90 euros at: www.mmove.net
Info: All information about the valley: www.visitchiese.it
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
