[Travel Emilia Romagna] Appenninica MTB: Una gara a tappe lungo il crinale Appenninico
Squirt is the Official Chain Lube of Appenninica MTB Parmigiano Reggiano
Squirt Cycling Products is the official chain lubricant partner of Appenninica MTB Parmigiano Reggiano Stage Race.
Achieving your goal at a mountain bike race is as much about training hard, using the best equipment, getting your nutrition dialed in, and hopefully riding your dream bike, right? Yes, but that’s not all.
On a 7-day MTB stage race, as in the format of the Appenninica, you need to make sure your bike is clean and lubed properly every day. The chain and drivetrain are typically the dirtiest parts of your bike and if you don’t use the right lube, well, your bike performance will be impacted and, let’s face it, you will hate yourself when your chain comes off or brakes at a critical point during the race.
That’s why we are happy to partner with Squirt Cycling Products, a South African company. Their liquid lubricant has unique properties that make it ideal for use in any cycling condition. Squirt lube is a wax base, long lasting dry lube that does not contain harmful solvents, is 100% biodegradable and environmentally friendly. They also produce a concentrated biodegradable bike cleaner, a puncture sealant, and a long-lasting application for skin protection on endurance events.
Whichever is your ambition, know that Squirt products are tried, tested and trusted by the biggest names in the world of mountain biking such as Julien Absalon, Rudi Van Houts, Bart Brentjens, Alan Hatherly, Robyn de Groot, Ariane Luthi, and Mariske Strauss, Stefan Garlicki, Bradley Weiss or Johann Potgieter.
Squirt is involved in a number of activities to promote cycling, adventure racing, running and multi-sport around the world. They strive to produce products that are thoroughly tested and accepted by the cycling world as functional and of high quality.
Parmigiano Reggiano Title Sponsor of Appenninica
The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium is the title sponsor of the first edition of the Appenninica MTB Stage Race!
The organizers of Appenninica are honored to be able to combine the name of their competition with one of the most popular and appreciated Italian products in the world. The prerequisites for this partnership come from a shared vision for enhancing the territory and from the approach – without compromise – that leads to creating something unique, genuine and authentic.
The element that links Appenninica MTB Parmigiano Reggiano Stage Race and the King of Cheeses is chiefly and above all the territory. The race will take place on the heights that house the dairy farms that produce Parmigiano Reggiano Mountain Product (Prodotto di Montagna) – we shall remind that the production area of the Parmigiano Reggiano Dop includes the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantova to the right of the Po river and Bologna to the left of the Rhine river (an area of about 10,000 km2). The second key element is the desire to promote sports activities and enhance the passion of athletes who undertake an out of the ordinary endurance race.
Appenninica MTB Parmigiano Reggiano Stage Race is a hard test that will involve an incredible expenditure of calories but good food and typical recipes of the Emilia-Romagna Apennines will not be missing. With Parmigiano Reggiano we have added another truly “tasty” ingredient.
Parmigiano Reggiano is the perfect food for every sportsman, especially for endurance sports, because it is rich in minerals and nutrients, with a precious lipid component and able to provide readily usable energy. Thanks to its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics, it is an inevitable element in the athletes’ diet both in the pre and during and after the competition. Thanks to its production process, the King of cheeses is also naturally free of lactose, additives and preservatives.
The new name of the race is, therefore, APPENNINICA PARMIGIANO REGGIANO STAGE RACE and the logo has been redesigned as will all the communication to accommodate the Consortium’s brand.
Appenninica Race Village Concept
We are proud to introduce our very own race village concept
After completing the March reconnaissance trip and meeting with the local municipalities that will host the race village, we are pleased to announce the concept of the Appenninica MTB race village.
The race village will be in actual towns with services and housing scattered throughout and proper signage indicating the facilities. We’ll be in the center or in close proximity of the center of the hosting villages and therefore part of the lively summer activities of those Apennine local communities. This style of village is borrowed from the albergo diffuso (scattered hotel concept), an idea that started in the 1980’s in Italy as a way to revive small villages off the tourist track and give visitors a way to feel like a local in the places they are staying.
While we love aerial shots of race villages in soccer and rugby fields or in the wilderness, we feel that our albergo diffuso village will make our athletes feel at home. A race village that is housed among the streets and piazzas of our hosting communities was possible thanks to the amazing support of our local partners. Our hope is that all riders will get to look around and enjoy the fact that we have local businesses and services all around us.
Since we will be hosted in actual villages and not in the wilderness, we will be surrounded by lively communities. We will be housed in indoor dorms (gyms, schools, sports arenas) and not in tents.
Riders – and companions with a supporter pass – will have to bring their own sleeping bags and mats. Showers and bathrooms will be inside the buildings. Portable toilets will be also close to the starting line.
Go to the Race Village page.
Garmin Sponsor and Challenge
Appenninica mountain bike Stage Race announces Garmin as sponsor and a Garmin Challenge within each stage.
Garmin is the world leader in GPS navigation and a well-respected brand in the outdoor world. For years, both adventure cyclists and those seeking performance have considered a Garmin bike computer and navigator as an essential tool for their rides.
Performance and adventure are two ingredients of the Appenninica MTB Stage Race, whose first edition will take place on the Apennine Mountain Range in Italy in July 2019.
Garmin has come on board as a sponsor of Appenninica and will link its brand to the Italian stage race. Garmin will offer assistance in the field with Garmin product specialists in the race village during the week of the race. Garmin GPS devices will surely be on the bikes of many of the competitors and Garmin personnel will be on hand to check that they are in top working condition. They will also provide information on new products.
Many riders – no matter the discipline – see their Garmin as a tool that grants a wealth of performance data and metrics.
Precisely in order to strive for performance under the Garmin brand, the organizers at Appenninica MTB are excited to announce the Garmin Challenge: a timed section within the route for each stage. In many cases the Garmin Challenge will correspond with a significant climb of the stage.
The more than 500 km of Appenninica and 270 of Appenninica4will not be a walk in the park but they will surely be an exciting challenge. There will be parts that will require more effort and determination than others and that will decide the ranking for those who battle for the podium. Among these will be the Garmin Challenge section of each course. These sections will be recorded, logged and will generate a special ranking thanks to the GarminConnect segments function.
The Garmin Challenge brings Garmin into the event as not only a sponsor but as an important part of the event, setting the stage for a successful collaboration betweenAppenninica MTB Stage Race and Garmin.