The Maratona dles Dolomites (Ladin for "Dolomites Marathon"; ), is an annual single-day road bicycle race covering seven mountain passes in the Dolomites. Open to amateur cyclists, the Maratona—with 9,000 riders from over 70 nations—is one of the biggest Italian Granfondo bicycle races. National Geographic described it as "one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth." History 1987 - 1993 : The pioneers of Pedraces 1987 The first Maratona dles Dolomites was run on 12 July 1987. This was a celebration of the first ten years of the cycling club Societá Ciclistica Alta Badia-Raiffeisen. The route was unique and snaked through seven Dolomite passes: Gardena, Sella, Fedaia, Duran, Forcella Staulanza, Falzarego and Valparola over . It started and ended in Pedraces. There were 166 participants. The first to pass the finish line was the Austrian Wolfgang Steinmayr who rode for over ten hours. There was also a single woman: Trui Beemsterboern from Holland, who arrived one hour after the winner. 1988 There were two routes: the first was long and mainly followed the roads of the first edition. The second was shorter. The cold, rainy day created quite a few problems for the 440 competitors. 417 people started the race. At the Duran Pass they stopped to decide what to do. The competition times were cancelled, but the race continued. The last competitor arrived at 21:00 hours, virtually frozen to death. A tub of boiling water awaited him in the hotel. 1989 It was also very cold the following year, which featured the Maratona pennant for the first time. The number of competitors continued to increase to 541. The starter was an exceptional professional, Flavio Giupponi, who had come second in the Giro d’Italia the year before. The day was so cold that the organisers decided to end the race at the Giau Pass. 1990 The route changed, and the Maratona was long and included the Valparola Pass, descended to Cortina, the Tre Croci Pass, Misurina Lake, the Cimabanche watershed, Cortina, the Giau Pass, Colle Santa Lucia, Caprile, the Fedaia Pass, Canazei, the Pordoi Pass, Arabba and the Campolongo Pass. There were of difference in altitude. There was also a shorter, more manageable route. There were 951 participants, including the first American. It was also the year of the first Maratona jersey that was given to all competitors. 1991 There were 1,292 participants of whom