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This circular course, starting and ending on the lakefront of Malcesine, follows the same path as the 26K race for the first 9km and immediately takes the athletes to an elevation gain of about 1350m. After a couple of km on tarmac, the course leaves the town and begins to climb on highly panoramic paths, first on cart tracks and dirt roads, then on singletrack through chestnut and oak forests.
At Km 8.6, near Bocca di Navene (1420m ASL), is the first refreshment station and intermediate split time checkpoint. From here the course crosses over to the eastern slope of Mount Baldo, where one can appreciate the morphologic and climate diversity compared to the western slope, mitigated by the presence of Lake Garda. After a descent of about 300m, the course continues south on a more runnable stretch, with ups and downs between 1100 and 1300m of elevation that allow for a longer stride, until reaching Passo Pozza della Cola (km 14.2).
The course then descends among malghe and pastures, typical of this area, down to the locality of Madonna della Neve (km 17.8) and, a little further on, to Rifugio Monte Baldo (km 18.8), where the second refreshment station is located.
From Rifugio Monte Baldo the course turns north and climbs again: a first steeper stretch brings athletes to about 1350m in just over a km, then the climb becomes more gradual for about 5 km until reaching the locality of Prà Alpesina (1450m ASL, km 24.7), home to the third refreshment station. There follows a steep singletrack push of about 2 km and 300m of elevation gain that brings the athletes back to the summit of Mount Baldo, at the cable car’s upper station (km 26.5): at about 1750m, this is the highest point of the entire race. Here you will find the cut-off gate, the fourth refreshment station, and the second intermediate split time checkpoint.
From this point onward, the course progressively loses elevation: a first steep descent of about 400m over 2 km leads to a mid-slope stretch, around 1300m, with runnable ups and downs for about 3.5 km. Next comes the most demanding descent, on steep terrain that is sometimes technical and sometimes very runnable, through coniferous forests first and beech woods after, losing almost 800m of elevation over about 3.5 km. After a rolling stretch, the course reaches the cable car’s intermediate station at San Michele (km 37.6), where the fifth refreshment station is available. From here the course re-enters the “Olive Tree coastal belt” and descends on cart tracks and trail until reaching the town again for the last 2 km on cobblestones and tarmac.
