Climbs are mystical places, spiritual gradients, ecstatic states. Climbs are proofs of God's and self's existence. Climbs strip, degrease, uncover. Climbs purify and cleanse. Climbs unveil and reveal. Climbs are for vertical men and human chamois, all on two wheels. Because climbs are the sense, not the only one but the most intimate yet spectacular, of cycling.

For the eleventh time, Pratese proposes "Legendary Climbs", a way to push - if not by force of legs and arms, at least with curiosity and pride - to explore Valsesia every time the road rises under the pedals.

The rules: you can choose 10 out of 15 climbs, 12 paved and three unpaved; you can participate on road bikes, gravel, mtb and e-bikes, the important thing is to pedal; you can do it in seven months, the important thing is to participate; and for those under 14, four climbs are enough to obtain the "LEGENDary jersey", the important thing is to try. Here you race with yourself and with others, not against. Here you measure yourself with your willpower, year after year. Here you also confront the force of gravity, variable depending on physical condition, and especially the forces of nature, which is always beauty to admire and respect. Here, more than ever, participation is free.

The 2025 edition will be presented on Friday, at 9 pm, in Prato Sesia (Novara), in the small hall of the oratory in Via Fra Dolcino 1. And on this occasion, the jerseys from the previous edition will be awarded. Guest of honor, Denis Lunghi, 49 years old, from Biella, blue among the amateurs, six years as a professional, five victories, including the Campobasso-Chieti stage at the 2002 Giro d'Italia, by detachment, leaving the five breakaway companions behind. That day, the finish was uphill.