Sounds like a big uphill grunt of a climb.

The latest famed contender to join the ranks of the MTB stage race scheduled from September 27th to October 3rd, 2020 on the Emilian Apennines, in Italy, is Internationally renowned stage-race specialist Milton Ramos, six-time winner of the established and very challenging IronBike stage race, in the Western Alps.

Born in 1979 and grown up in Honduras, Ramos proved his MTB talent after moving to Spain in 1999, when he joined his mother who had emigrated to Europe a few years earlier in Zaragoza. After a short period in road cycling, he committed full-time to his passion for fat wheels and off-road tracks, soon becoming one of the most popular bikers in Spain. He is nicknamed "Zorro of the Desert", because of his good feeling with the Titan Desert in Morocco, where he won three stages with three second places in the overall standings.

In Appenninica he will face a new challenge, as the Apennines are an unexplored terrain for him. On the starting line of Porretta Terme (Bologna) he will wear the Rockrider Decathlon Team jersey, together with the French Joseph de Poortere and competing both in the individual category.

"My teammate Joseph told me about Appenninica and when I read about it I was impressed by the routes and the overall offer of the race - Milton, who also won races like the Mediterranean Extreme, Gigante de Piedra and the Quebrantahuesos cxm in his career, explains -. I also received positive feedbacks from other friends of mine who know the race and I am very curious to discover the Apennines. I’ve never had the chance to ride there before, so it will be a very first time for me".

The Honduran living in Aragon comes from a difficult 2019, punctuated by several physical problems that have significantly limited his bike activity, and even this 2020, with many races cancelled due to the epidemic emergency, had not started in the best way. Appenninica, postponed from summer to autumn, will therefore be one of the major goals of the season for Ramos, who is surely going to entertain the fans during the seven days along the Emilian provinces.

The16.000 meters of elevation gain seems to fit perfectly to Milton's skills: "Hard and technical races like Appenninica are the ones I prefer and in which I have always managed to give the best of me, so I think I can have fun. The first goal for me is to enjoy the ride and appreciate what is around me, but I am also competitive by nature and I will surely focus on the overall classification. I will then try to finish as high as possible".