a far-ranging event that touched sensibilities. The Maratona is a constant invitation to ride with strong legs and an open mind. 2016 8,903 cyclists started at 6:30 am from La Villa. A long, big snake of cyclists that took about 36 minutes to begin the race with a gorgeous landscape and an enchanting and exciting music to incite the start. That's a high numbers’ mechanism with more than 33,000 pre-registrations but a limited numbers race. Half the cyclists were Italian, the other half are a heterogeneous group from five different continents: Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium represented Europe; Qatar, Japan, Korea, Colombia and Kazakhstan, are only some of the nationalities of the cyclists travelling from afar. The theme chosen was ‘the journey’. 2017 The theme chosen was LOVE. 9,129 cyclists (962 women) from 69 countries started at 6:30 am from La Villa. That's a high numbers’ mechanism with more than 33,500 pre-registrations but a limited numbers race; the Dolomite passes closed for all the race long; charity's objective and eco-sustainable way to live the race with electrical cars and motorbikes for internal use. Among the participants was Sir Bradley Wiggins who completed the race for the first time and comments "I really enjoyed it although it was very tough". The route comprised twists and turns through the seven Dolomite passes: Pordoi, Sella, Campolongo, Falzarego, Gardena, Valparola, Giau, starting from La Villa and finishing to Corvara. Three levels of competition were available: the long route of and of altitude; the medium route of and of altitude; and Sella Ronda of and of altitude. 2018 The theme chosen was EQUILIBRIUM. A perfect start with mild temperatures under a blue sky were the conditions at 6:30 am when 9,239 cyclists (including 978 women) started. The traditional starting pistol was fired by Eddy Merckx. There are always many flags flying at the queen of the international granfondo sportives: 68 different countries (from the five continents) were represented. In 2018 4,900 cyclists participated for the first time. And their total number was equally subdivided between Italians (50%) and foreigners (50%). There were three courses over the passes, closed to traffic, that made history in cycling: Pordoi, Sella, Campolongo, Falzarego, Gardena, Valparola, Giau, all of them strictly closed to traffic. The distances and altitudes were the same as the 2017 race. For the second year in a row, the male winner was Tommaso Elettrico