With the charismatic 32-year-old Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (INEOS Grenadiers), an overbiker and star of the scene is coming to Ticino. Ferrand-Prévot is firmly in the saddle in all disciplines and on all surfaces: she became world champion on the road, in cyclo cross, mountain bike (XCO) and on a gravel bike. Nine XCO World Champion titles, the last one in Scotland in 2023, stand alone.

French power in a double pack

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is challenged by a rider from her national team, Loana Lecomte (Canyon CLLTV), World Cup runner-up from Glasgow and world number 2. The duels between the two French women are usually intense and tough. The podium contenders also include Italian champion Martina Berta (Santa Cruz-FSA XC team), who won the Tamaro Trophy in 2023.

The creme de la creme from Switzerland will complete the star parade. The XCO and XCC overall World Cup winner 2022, Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon), and the trio of medals from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Jolanda Neff (gold) from Trek Factory Racing XC, Sina Frei (silver) from the Specialized Factory Racing Team and Linda Indergand from LIV Factory Racing (bronze) are also starting the race. The quartet recently contested the Trofeo Ponente multi-day road race in Rosa together as a team and finished in an excellent third place. Everyone on Monte Ceneri is now fighting for themselves.

Home game for Filippo Colombo 

Another crowd puller is local hero Filippo Colombo (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team), who won the CIC Swiss Bike Cup final in Gstaad BE last September. His start to this season is flawless and promising. The 26-year-old from Ticino has five victories in five starts so far: at the Imbuko Big Five MTB Challenge in Wellington (South Africa), three first places at the Salamina Epic in Greece and most recently at the Capriasca Challenge in Tesserete TI.

For Colombo, 2022 World Cup runner-up and XCC Swiss Champion, the Tamaro Trophy has a very special significance. He lives just three kilometers from the start and knows every rock on the track. Colombo drove for VC Monte Tamaro at the Swiss Bike Cup even as a young boy and is still in close contact with the club, as his former companions still support him today. That is why winning his home race — even emotionally — is a very important goal for him this season. The man from Ticino also wants to collect important UCI points for the world rankings on his doorstep.

“Small World Cup race with many strong drivers”

Colombo raves about the track: “It is technical, natural, exciting and physically demanding. It has everything an attractive XCO race should have. This is one of the best courses of the season,” Colombo is convinced. Experience has shown that the races are very exciting for spectators, and a part of the world's best always gathers together at Monte Tamaro: “It will be a small World Cup race — with many strong drivers,” says Colombo.

In addition to Swiss players such as Vital Albin and Lars Forster (both Thömus maxon) or Marcel Guerrini (BIXS Performance Race Team), this also includes international cracks. 31-year-old Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC), XCO World Champion 2020, Italian Luca Braidot (Santa Cruz FSA XC team), Italian XCO and XCC Champion 2023, Joshua Dubau (Decathlon Ford Racing Team), World Number 5, Thomas Griot (Canyon CLLTV), current French Champion XCO & XCC, and 26-year-old Simon Andreassen (Cannondale Factory Racing), multiple Danish champions, promise a hot race in Ticino.

Ideal route for the World Cup form check

The prestigious races on Monte Tamaro in the Lugano-Bellinzona-Locarno triangle are an important form check for many elite drivers in view of the upcoming World Cup season, which opens in Mairipora (Brazil) in mid-April. There could hardly be a better route to determine this position than the 4.2 km long, technically demanding cross-country circuit derT Amaro Trophy, with its many steep rock gardens.

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