SELLARONDA MTB TOUR / HERO: AFTER THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS NOW theALPS AWARD 2015 A YEAR TO REMEMBER The Südtirol Sellaronda HERO and the Sellaronda MTB TOUR have enjoyed an exceptional year, first with the holding of the World Championships, and second with the new impulse which has been given to the tourism offer. And today there is more to add for at Moena in Val di Fassa the prestigious theALPS Award 2015 has been won by our double mountain bike project in the . The innovative tourism offer of the Sellaronda MTB TOUR, promoted at a global level by the Südtirol Sellaronda HERO greatly impressed theALPS Award voting panel, the project being chosen as winner from 24 projects associated with the world of biking and realised in the Alpine ranges.

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Val Gardena (/Italy), 8 September 2015 - 2015 has been a special year indeed. After the Sellaronda HERO playing host to the UCI World Championships Marathon another recognition today came the way of the HERO. In fact the interregional project Sellaronda MTB TOUR / HERO (tha latter held in 2008 for the first time) was chosen as winner of the prestigous theAlps Award, triumphing over 23 other “alpine” contenders, the overall number being reduced to 5 contenders for purposes of the awards ceremony, the voting panel having scrutinised carefully all nominations. Today’s success underlines the potential of the project, it already widely appreciated by the general public: from the initial 120 bikers that back in 2008 dared to challenge the Sella Group by bike, numbers have risen in drastic fashion and this summer just gone more than 10,000 embarked on the Tour. To proudly receive the award there was Gerhard Vanzi, he the man behind the original idea and subsequently promoter in chief of the Sellaronda MTB TOUR / HERO project. «I am really happy to receive this AWARD - said Gerhard Vanzi - It is a great recognition to all friends and partners who have believed in the idea of the Sellaronda MTB TOUR and the Sellaronda HERO and who have always supported this project.My thanks go to all who have contributed to the success of the project. The adventure does not stop here. The mountain bike and the sport of mountain biking are evolving all the time. We are ready to take on new initiatives to thrill and excite both participants and the public in general»

The peak of recognition It is important to note that theALPS Award is awarded annually by a voting panel comprised of representatives from AlpNet, an alliance of the alpine regions of Tirolo, Südtirol, , Graubünden, Luzern Tourism, Rhône-Alpes, Valais and BE!Tourism Valais. The alliance has as a shared objective the development of alpine tourism and to secure its place in a global context. The regions associated represent a sum of 245.3 million overnight stays in the alpine region, this being 66% of the overall total.

The Sellaronda TOUR proposal Thanks to the natural integration betwen lift facilities and trails, they becoming more and more specific for mountain bike use, the Sellaronda TOUR enables you to bike around the Sella Massif in the company of expert guides. It is a fun way to disover the Dolomites in all their beauty and to choose the type of tour you prefer: the classic variety, the one appealing to foodies (Gourmet Tour), even for the less expert bikers by using electric mountain bikes (E-Bike Tour), and then the single trails and adreanline pumping enduro downhills (Gravity Tour). You can bike the Sellaronda MTB Tour in both clockwise and anti-clockwise diections, setting off with your guide from any of the villages in the four valleys (Arabba, Val di Fassa, Val Badia and ), and of course by using the lift systems when necessary you can reduce the altitude level you cover and avoid any not so inviting climb