The Hills Gravel Race

The Hills grew out of Mattia De Marchi's wish to show off the Prosecco hills, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape between Venice and the Dolomites, from the saddle of a gravel bike. He built it with the Xevent team around one idea: racing and the freedom of a good day out can share the same course, so the front of the field goes flat out while others ride it with friends and everyone meets again at the finish.

The route starts and ends at Borgoluce, an old farming estate in the Treviso hills near Susegana, and strings together places that define this wine country: Collalto, Valdobbiadene and Combai, with almost no tarmac and a run of short, steep climbs through the vineyards. Riders remember the descents as much as the climbs, and the weather is part of the story: a mud bath in 2025, bright sunshine in 2026.

The Hills has been a round of the Gravel Earth Series, so the start line draws a strong international elite field, but the weekend around it matters just as much. The village sits inside the estate, with local food, talks and a shakeout ride the day before, and the after-party is treated as part of the event rather than an afterthought.