The 2020 edition of the toughest mountain bike race in the world has been canceled. It would have taken place on 20 June on the Sella Group. The BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites will now take place next year and also represent the final stage of the HERO World Series 2021.
The year 2020 will go down in history for the grave tragedy which befell the entire planet, and the restrictive, painful but necessary limitations implemented due to the virus outbreak. A complete stop of sports events, from professional races to amateur competitions, was one of the side effects of these restrictions. The BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites was planned for 20 June, right in the middle of the season: the event had no other choice but to accept defeat.
After the initial plan to postpone everything until the end of the summer and having listened to the registered bikers’ opinions across the event’s channels, the Organising Committee decided to cancel the race. Heroes will be able to compete again at the foot of the Dolomites in June 2021.
Gerhard Vanzi, the man behind the HERO, said: “Ours is the toughest marathon mountain bike race in the world: intense and long training is required and, should the event have been postponed to the end of the summer, this would not have given enough time to prepare to most participants. What is more, the ambiance during the race would not have been as carefree as usual: we, and the bikers, want to guarantee the best safety conditions for everyone’s health.”
BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites will take place in 2021
In other words: see you in 2021! The Organising Committee confirms registration fees will be carried over as a credit for the next BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites which will take place in June 2021.
Genni Tschurtschenthaler, Managing Director of the HERO, added: “Our thoughts during these trying times go to all the doctors and paramedics fighting on the front line against the virus. Many of them belong to our group of 600 volunteers: they are the true heroes of this global tragedy.”
As the BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites has been canceled, the HERO World Series 2020, the three-stage marathon race which kicked off in Dubai on 7 February and which should have finished with the HERO Thai on 10 October, cannot take place any longer.
In the light of this new reality, the race in Thailand, which will take place in October 2020, will be the first stage of the HERO World Series 2021. The final award ceremony will take place during the BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites in June 2021.
This post is a press release by HERO World Series. Read more on heroworldseries.com.
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