On the eve of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, Livigno confirms its central role in the international landscape as a reference destination for altitude training and fine-tuning ahead of the most important sporting appointments of the season. Indeed, many athletes, teams and federations have chosen the locality during the summer to refine their preparation in view of the major seasonal appointments. A summer that concludes with the upcoming Montréal Worlds. Among these stand out Michael Matthews (Australia), Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Wout van Aert (Belgium), Alberto Bettiol (Italy), Lorenzo Finn (Italy), Primož Roglič (Slovenia), Finn Fisher-Black (New Zealand), Jai Hindley (Australia), Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Luke Tuckwell (Australia) and Callum Thornley (Great Britain).

A list that spans different nationalities, teams and sporting paths and reflects the dimension reached by Livigno in recent years. The choice of altitude, at such a delicate phase of the season, speaks to the athletes' confidence in the conditions offered by the locality and in an ecosystem built over time around the specific needs of highest-level performance: among world-class infrastructure, such as the AQ1816 Olympic Preparation Centre, a wide variety of routes, specialized services and a sporting culture deeply rooted in the territory.

Among the realities that have chosen Livigno to support preparation towards the major appointments of the season is Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe, of which Livigno is the Official Altitude Training Destination. A partnership that finds one of its most concrete elements precisely in the work of the athletes and which, on the eve of the Worlds, takes on particular significance.

The team arrives at the world championship appointment with important ambitions and with some of its most representative men who have spent part of their preparation path in Livigno. Among these Remco Evenepoel, world champion in the time trial in the last three editions and two-time Olympic champion at Paris 2024: «I've learned that putting additional pressure on myself won't make me go faster. Of course, it would be fantastic to write history in Montréal, but in a time trial everything still comes down to giving your all on a demanding course. That's what I need to focus on. Everything depends on my performance. If the result comes, it will be an extraordinary day; if it doesn't, I'll know I did everything I could do that day.»

The champion then dwelled on the preparation: «I believe Livigno is probably one of the best places to prepare for a World Championship. It's not simply about training at altitude, which you could do anywhere else in Europe. In Livigno the roads are fantastic, you're surrounded by wonderful mountains and you have some legendary climbs just a few steps away. The facilities are also among the best in Europe, and this makes it much easier to recover after the hardest outings. Beyond training, the town itself is peaceful and welcoming, a factor equally important when you're focused 100% on preparation.»

The 2026 UCI Road World Championships will take place in Montréal, Canada, from September 20-27. The programme includes time trial and road race events for elite categories, as well as the mixed team relay.

The approach to the Worlds thus becomes also a moment to relive the path that has brought many of the protagonists to Montréal. The race will award the medals, but the challenge is built in the hard work of the weeks and months that precede the world championship event. And, for many of the protagonists expected in Canada, much of that work has passed through Livigno.

From the great names of world cycling to young talents, the thread that unites them is a choice: that of entrusting to Livigno a decisive part of the preparation. Because if medals are decided in Montréal, the path to try to win them begins much earlier. It begins from the 1816 Bike Zone Livigno.