After the first six-kilometre climb to Dantercepies, Urs Huber, the Italians Juri Ragnoli, Daniele Mensi and Hannes Pallhuber as well as Leonardo Paez were still close together. However, the eventual winner crashed on the following descent because he rode too close to Juri Ragnoli and lost valuable time in the process. While Ragnoli was alone in the lead up to the Poroi Pass, Paez was able to catch up with the chasers again. However, around 30 kilometers before the finish, the Italian slowly began to break away and then suffered a pedal defect. Paez pulled away and reached the Mahlknechtjoch with a considerable lead over the Belgian Roel Paulissen, only to then tackle the last 20 kilometers solo.

"I'm very happy," says Paez. "Although I crashed, I held on and caught up. I would like to thank my team, who gave me a lot of support. That's why the victory also belongs to them."

Second-placed Urs Huber is also very satisfied. "At times I was even in fourth place, then some of my rivals dropped away. It was very tough on the climb up to Ornella near Arabba, but I was still able to make up some ground. Paez was very strong, the course is tailored to him. I slowed down a bit before the last climb to have a bit of juice left for the World Championships in a week's time," explained the Swiss marathon specialist. After 84 kilometers and 4,300 vertical meters, Huber is around two and a half minutes behind winner Paez.

Third-placed Roel Paulissen was still suffering from stomach pains at the start in the morning. "I was cold, but as the race progressed I felt better and better," said the Belgian. "Although I rode at the limit, I never overdid it and still had enough in reserve to finish third in the end. I'm very happy with my performance," said a delighted Paulissen.

Quickly to victory
In the women's race, the shorter, 62-kilometre course is part of the UCI Marathon Series, but with 3,300 meters of elevation gain, it is tough enough. The 28-year-old Elisabeth Brandau originally did not want to take part in the Sella Ronda due to a low. Nevertheless, she decided to take part in the race, which turned out to be a good decision. She won confidently ahead of Michalina Ziolkowska from Poland and Borghild Loevset from Denmark. Her strength on this day was the downhill, where she pulled out a decisive lead. Initially, the Italian Elena Gaddoni and the Austrian Verena Krenslehner dictated the pace, but then fell back and missed out on the podium in fourth and seventh. "I didn't feel very good in the morning," says the winner and multiple German marathon champion. "Maybe the altitude was to blame for the fact that I didn't sleep well during the night."

About three minutes after Brandau, Michalina Ziolkowska crossed the finish line. The 30-year-old, who won the UCI Marathon Series in Roc des Ardennes, France, at the beginning of May, got off to a good start but was then unable to keep up with the best. "I felt good and caught up over the course of the race," says the Polish athlete. On the last climb to the Sella Pass, I was able to overtake Borghild Løvseth and cross the finish line in second place".

Borghild Loevseth is tired but very satisfied. She finished just under a minute behind the second-placed Polish athlete. "I'm very happy with my podium finish," said the third-placed Norwegian in the European Championships. "The altitude got to me and I've probably traveled too much in the last few weeks," says Loevset.

Next year, the UCI Marathon World Championships will be held on the occasion of the "Hero Bike Festival" in Val Gardena/Gröden, which takes place between June 20 and 28, 2015.

www.sellarondahero.com

Results Sella Ronda Hero, Val Gardena/Gröden/ITA
Men 84km
1.	Leonardo Paez (COL)	i.Idro Drain Bianchi	4:45.07,4
2.	Urs Huber (SUI)	Team Bulls	+0:02.33,7
3.	Roel Paulissen (BEL)	Torpado Factory Team	+0:03.59,8
4.	Juri Ragnioli (ITA)	Scott Racing Team	+0:06.58,7
5.	Tony Longo (ITA)	i.Idro Drain Bianchi	+0:07.45,9
6.	Giacomo Antonello (ITA)	Reparto corse Polimedical	+0:17.05,7
7.	Klaus Fontana (ITA)	ASC Olang	+0:17.31,5
8.	Jochen Käss (GER)	Team Centurion Vaude	+0:18.45,2
9.	Johann Pallhuber (ITA)	Silmax X-Bionic Racing Team	+0:19.46,3
10.	Massimo Debertolis (ITA)	Team Wilier Sat System	+0:21.27,7
Women 62km
1.	Elisabeth Brandau (GER)	EBE Racing Team	4:23.52,4
2.	Michalina Ziolkowska (POL)	Kross Racing Team	+0:02.58,6
3.	Borghild Loevset (DAN)	Orkla CK	+0:03.55,9
4.	Elena Gaddoni (ITA)	FRM Factory Racing Team	+0:06.28,4
5.	Daniela Veronesi (ITA)	Torpado Surfing Shop	+0:08.11,9
8.	Michelle Wittlin (SUI)	Stöckli Racing Team	+0:20.38,1
9.	Sofia Pezzatti (SUI)	VC 3Valli Biasca - Team Wittwer	+0:22.35,9