On July 7, 2024 the famous Maratona delle Dolomiti road bike marathon took place in the Italian Dolomites. This is an annual single day bike race that covers seven mountain passes and is one of Italy’s largest bike races. The race is 106km long and 3,100 vertical meters of climbing (10,100 feet)! National Geographic describes it as “one of the biggest, most passionate, and most chaotic bike races on Earth.” It is open to amateur cyclists, but has become so popular over the years that there is a lottery for cyclists to enter.
Thirty thousand riders apply to enter from 70 different countries and only 9,000 applicants are chosen. “The intense competition for places is a reflection of the legendary nature of this ride, which is up there with the Marmotte in terms of toughness and as a test of the amateur rider's physical and mental strength.” says Sportive.com. Bikers from all over the world put their names in the hat to win a chance to ride in Badia at Maratona, including Wright Trainings very own coach, Tony McLaughlin.
Tony applied a few years in a row to test his luck with the lottery, assuming that he would likely never be accepted. Until finally in December of 2023 he received an email saying he had a chance to ride in one of Italy’s most intense bike races, the Maratona delle Dolomiti in 2024.
We asked Tony a few questions about the race and how he trained for it. This is what he said:
How did you train for the Maratona delle Dolomiti?
I started in January, following an 80/20 structure. With 80% of my training in zone 2, 20% in high output/ high effort, based on heart rates. Average training started at 6 hours a week, increasing up to ~18 hours. Two strength days a week at wright, switching to cycling specific 8 strength weeks before the race.
How did working out at Wright Training help you to get you to where you needed to be?
I would absolutely attribute my ability to recover and stay injury free through that cycle to strength training.
The other Wright Training part that was important was accountability, leading to mental strength. The weather the day of the race was horrible. So bad I considered DNS-ing the thing. Weeks, months of training and hearing Crystal's voice saying "you can do hard things" got me to the starting line, and then from there you just keep pedaling.
What got you interested in competing in this race?
I've always wanted to go to the Dolomites, so I tossed my hat in this lottery a few different times. It seemed like a good excuse to get over there. There's only ~15% chance you're in via the lottery, so I also figured I would never actually have to do it. Once I got the email that I was in, I was almost like a dog who caught his tail - I wasn't quite sure what to do!
Would you do it again ?
Maybe... I could and would do the ride again. I'd love to see the whole area with clear weather - no clouds or rain or whatever. I would struggle to put that much effort into a single day again and be disappointed by conditions. More likely I'd just take a week over there and wait for a weather window to ride the route solo.
Have you ever thought about trying your luck in one of Italy's most difficult and intense road races?! Wright Training's coach, Tony McLaughlin, raced in the Maratona delle Dolomiti this past July- read on to hear about his experience.
