Emilia Welte and Luca Cavallo take Victory at 2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race in the Dolomites
The 2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race exploded into life at dawn in Feltre, the air still cool, the mountains towering above the start like silent judges waiting to see who would survive their brutal test. Riders rolled out knowing exactly what lay ahead: over 200 kilometres, nearly 5,000 metres of climbing, and a route so unforgiving it proudly states itself “Only for real cyclists.”
The peloton stretched and twisted through the early kilometres, nerves tight, legs fresh, everyone saving what they could for the monstrous ascents still hidden in the morning haze.
The first ramps of the Dolomites arrived like a punch to the ribs. The long route demanded everything from the riders — patience, rhythm, humility — as the gradients bit and the switchbacks stacked one after another. The mountains showed no mercy. Riders cracked early, others surged, and the front group began to take shape as the strongest legs revealed themselves. The Medio Fondo riders split off toward their own battle, but the long-route contenders pressed deeper into the high mountains, where the air thinned and the race turned into a war of attrition.
By the time the race reached the iconic climbs that define this event, the field was scattered across the Dolomites like debris from an explosion. Every summit felt like a finish line, every descent a brief moment of borrowed life before the next wall of asphalt rose ahead. The leaders rode with grim focus, knowing the final ascent of Passo Croce d’Aune — the climb that carries the spirit of Tullio Campagnolo — still waited to decide the day. The heat rose, the crowds thickened, and the gradients sharpened as the riders approached the monument that has witnessed decades of suffering and triumph.
On the final climb, Luca Cavallo launched the decisive move. His cadence didn’t falter, his shoulders barely rocked, and the gap behind him stretched with every metre. The chasers fought, clawed, and emptied themselves, but Cavallo was untouchable. He crested Croce d’Aune alone, descended like a man possessed, and flew into Feltre’s Piazza Maggiore to claim one of the hardest Gran Fondo victories in Europe with a performance worthy of the race’s legend.
Behind him, the battle for the podium raged all the way to the line. Lucio Pierantozzi held off a charging trio, while Patrick Facchini and Giovanni Loiscio crossed within heartbeats of each other, the clock separating them more than the road ever could. The top ten arrived shattered, salt-stained, and hollow-eyed — the look of riders who had given everything to the Dolomites and received nothing for free.
In the women’s Gran Fondo, Emilia Welte delivered a masterclass in pacing and resilience. She rode her own race, never panicking, never overreaching, letting the mountains come to her. One by one her rivals faded, cracked, or were forced to ease, but Welte kept her rhythm, climbing with quiet ferocity. By the final ascent she was alone, carving her way through the heat and altitude toward Feltre, where she crossed the line with a commanding margin and the unmistakable aura of a rider who had conquered both the course and herself.
The Mediofondo men’s race ignited from the very first climb, a furious, full-gas battle where no one seemed interested in saving energy for later. The front group shattered early as attacks flew across the Dolomite slopes, riders trading blows on every ramp, every switchback, every exposed stretch of road. Francesco Di Felice rode with the sharpness of a man who knew he had winning legs, covering every move and forcing the pace whenever the gradient bit. Behind him, Aldo Caiati and Rossano Mauti clung on through sheer grit, the trio carving time into the chasers as the race thundered toward Feltre. The final kilometres became a test of nerve as much as strength, but Di Felice never cracked — powering through the heat, the crowds, and the chaos to take a commanding victory. The chasers arrived in fragments, exhausted and salt-stained, each one knowing they’d been part of a brutally fast edition of the Mediofondo where hesitation meant elimination and only the strongest survived the front.
The Medio Fondo delivered its own drama, with Elisa Leardini storming through the 120 km route and its 2,800 metres of climbing with the precision of a rider who knew exactly when to suffer and when to strike. She broke free in the final third of the race and never looked back, powering into Feltre with a sub-four-hour ride that left no doubt about her dominance.
By the end of the day, the Dolomites had taken their toll. Riders limped into the square, some in tears, some laughing, some barely able to unclip. But all of them knew they had survived something monumental — a race that does not forgive weakness, hesitation, or doubt. The Sportful Dolomiti Race had once again proven why it stands among the hardest Gran Fondos in Europe, a place where legends are made not by speed alone, but by courage, suffering, and the will to keep climbing when everything inside says stop.
2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race Gran Fondo Top 10 Men
1. Luca Cavallo (OM.CC) – 6:00:10.5
2. Lucio Pierantozzi (TEAM DA-TOR / ISB) – 6:11:01.6
3. Patrick Facchini (TEAM BIEMME GARDA SPORT) – 6:11:05.0
4. Giovanni Loiscio (TEAM ERACLE) – 6:11:05.4
5. Alex Raimondi (TEAM BCP BIKE A.S.D.) – 6:11:17.1
6. Giuseppe Orlando (Better Nutrition ASD) – 6:14:10.1
7. Ivan Martinelli (ASD Team Go Fast) – 6:14:20.3
8. Matteo Fontana (TEAM BIEMME GARDA SPORT) – 6:16:18.6
9. Marco Ceriani (TEAM BCPBIKE ASD) – 6:16:31.9
10. Simone Impellizzeri (A.S.D. TEAM DA-TOR / ISB) – 6:16:59.7
2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race Gran Fondo Top 10 Women
1. Emilia Welte (RV Pfeil Tübingen) – 7:03:54.6
2. Roberta Bussone (MG.KVIS Promotech FMB) – 7:14:08.9
3. Beatrice Blanc (ASD Rodman Team) – 7:25:30.2
4. Michela Santini (Team Stefan) – 7:25:49.3
5. Sarah Palfrader (A.S.D. Team DA-TOR / ISB) – 7:38:35.9
6. Julia Tanner (A.B.C. Egna Neumarkt) – 7:41:42.7
7. Anneloes Goetze (Neuried) – 7:51:02.2
8. Odette Bertolin (ASD Again) – 7:54:06.1
9. Simona Etossi (ASD Team DUEBI) – 8:05:38.2
10. Elisa Benedet (ACSI Nazionale Roma) – 8:16:29.9
2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race Medio Fondo Top 10 Men
1. Francesco Di Felice (TEAM GO FAST, ITA) – 3:31:28.6
2. Aldo Caiati (TEAM OOP! – XATEN, ITA) – 3:32:37.3 (+1:08.7)
3. Rossano Mauti (MG.KVIS Promotech FMB, ITA) – 3:32:43.8 (+1:15.2)
4. Massimiliano Barbero Piantino (OM.CC, ITA) – 3:37:09.5 (+5:40.9)
5. Matteo Fontanelli (Team Passion Faentina, ITA) – 3:37:24.7 (+5:56.1)
6. Nicolò Calzetta (ASD Team Garda Matergia, ITA) – 3:37:31.7 (+6:03.1)
7. Filippo Bianchi (TEAM OOP! – XATEN, ITA) – 3:38:13.8 (+6:45.2)
8. Enrico Logica (OM.CC, ITA) – 3:38:14.3 (+6:45.7)
9. Davide Pantano (Team Garda Matergia, ITA) – 3:38:14.8 (+6:46.2)
10. Ettore Carlini (ASD TEAM GO FAST, ITA) – 3:38:17.2 (+6:48.6)
2026 Sportful Dolomiti Race Medio Fondo Top 10 Women
1. Elisa Leardini (ASD Vibrata Bike 2005) – 3:59:45.1
2. Lorenza Beccaria (MG.KVIS Promotech FMB) – 4:04:52.4
3. Anna Cadorin (Team Staweld Buzzolan) – 4:11:01.9
4. Elis Simeoni (Ciclomecanico – Miane Bike Team) – 4:14:31.4
5. Stefania Mingolla (Team Garda Matergia) – 4:22:57.6
6. Francesca Comiotto (GRBike A.S.D.) – 4:23:11.7
7. Matilde Molo (Santorso) – 4:24:41.2
8. Silvia Ghidinelli (Team BCP Bike A.S.D.) – 4:25:09.6
9. Giulia Fabrello (ASDilettantistica San Vito di Leguzzano) – 4:26:56.4
10. Margit Zulian (Fontanari.it) – 4:27:48.3
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