Nico Valsesia

Sportsman since birth. As he grew older, Nico Valsesia became passionate about endurance sports, in particular everything that the word "ultra" encompasses. Since he was a boy he began to dream of being able to participate in the legendary Race Across America (RAAM), the toughest and most grueling ultracycling race in the world. A coast to coast from Oceanside (Pacific) to Annapolis (Atlantic) to be traveled non-stop in a maximum of 12 days. Only 50 percent of the participants manage to complete it, and Nico has done it 4 times, always with very respectable rankings: 2003, sixth overall; 2006, second overall; 2011, fifth overall; 2014, third overall. Valsesia dedicates body and soul to this race, with grueling training sessions, such as bike rides that take him non-stop from the Novara area to Gibraltar and back.

In addition to road cycling, his passion for bikes leads him to participate in iron biking, a historic competition up and down the paths of the Piedmont mountains. The results are not as expected and Valsesia suffers a shoulder injury when he falls which forces him to stop pedaling. It was during this period that he discovered his passion for running. The asphalt doesn't mean much to him, but long distances on dirt roads excite him. His first achievement in this field is the new record of climbing Ojos del Salado (6893 m), the highest volcano in the world, in 3 hours and 35 minutes. Afterwards the period of competitive races began which saw him on the podium of various competitions, such as the Thabor Trail (Val di Susa) or the Maratón trail del meridiano (Spain). Valsesia also has several participations in the Tor des Géants to his credit, where however he always withdrew before the conclusion. Always in a hurry, in 2012, together with Marco Gazzola, he crossed the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, the highest salt desert in the world.