February 4, 2006 – South Tyrol, Italy will be the venue of another big event – in July 2008 Villabassa-Alta Pusteria will host the 2008 Marathon World Championships. On January 27, at the Cyclo-Cross Worlds in Zeddam, Netherlands, the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike won the bid from the UCI over other candidates such as Cortina D’Ampezzo, Kirchzarten (BRD) and Madrid (SPA).

“We are very happy about it,” said Organizing Committee chief Kurt Ploner. “The UCI has confidence in us.” The course, the fascinating landscape of the Dolomites, and the great infrastructure and management teams convinced the UCI.

In past years, athletes from several countries have expressed very positive comments about the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike which has the largest number of competitors in Italy, with around 3,000 participants each year.

The new course, measured using GPS satellite technology, is set for the event, which for the first time, is also round #3 of the UCI Cross Country Marathon World Cup to be held on July 8-9, 2006.