There is certainly no shortage of mountain bike trails on Elba since the Capoliveri Bike Park was created; there are 100 kilometers of MBT trails in the park that wind along Monte Calamita, whose name derives from magnetite, an iron mineral that characterizes the geomorphology of the promontory in the south-eastern area.
It is a place of delight for lovers of hiking MBT of all levels. There is the green course (Calamita), the red (Miniere), the yellow (Ripa Est), the black (World Cup) and the blue one (Legend Cup); ideal for Cross-Country or Trail, they can be more or less physically demanding but do not present particular technical difficulties, except for the last two, which are more bumpy and difficult. There are also five Enduro tracks, all downhill.
You can have fun pedaling yourself or watching the races, even international ones with high-level athletes, which are often organised.
To reach the Bike Park from the Italian mainland, you need to take one of the ferries to Elba that leave from Piombino; from one of the three ports of Elba it is therefore necessary to arrive in the territory of the municipality of Capoliveri, having as a reference point Viale Italia, where the headquarters of the managing body are located.
Mountain Bike and trekking itineraries of the Capoliveri Bike Park
The large open-air structure equipped for mountain biking on Elba is located a few kilometers away from the town of Capoliveri; it develops on Monte Calamita, on the old miners’ paths and among the terraces of the ancient iron mines, reconverted by the Capoliveri Bike Park sports association into five permanent routes of varying difficulty and length, for a total of one hundred kilometers of paths and roads.
Membership is required in order to follow the itineraries. It can be carried out ludic-motor and recreational activity, FCI (non-agonist) cyclotourist activity or FCI agonistic activity. There are mountain bike guides on site who can accompany visitors – bikers on excursions. There is no shortage of possibilities to rent MTBs or e-bikes (standard mtb, junior, all mountain, freeride and UMB-3).
Here are all the routes with their names and characteristics:
Calamita (green, easy)
- Length: 19 km (or 28 km following the variant).
- Difficulty: easy.
- Difference in altitude: 350 m (or 580 m following the variant).
- Time: 2h (or 3h following the variant).
- Bottom: 50% asphalt, 50% gravel road.
Miniere (red, medium)
- Length: 24km.
- Difficulty: medium.
- Total height difference: 550 m.
- Time: 2.5 hours.
- Surface: 30% asphalt, 30% gravel road, 40% single track.
Ripa Est (yellow, medium)
- Length: 16km.
- Difficulty: medium.
- Elevation gain: 540m.
- Time: 1.5 hours.
- Surface: 25% asphalt, 15% gravel road, 60% single track.
World Cup (black, difficult)
- Length: 11km.
- Difficulty: difficult.
- Elevation gain: 300m.
- Time: 1h.
- Surface: 25% asphalt, 40% gravel road, 35% single track.
Legend Cup (blue, extreme)
- Length: 52km.
- Difficulty: very difficult.
- Difference in height: 1960 m.
- Time: 5.5 hours.
- Surface: 25% asphalt, 40% gravel road, 35% single track.
Enduro 1
- Length: 3.9 km.
- Elevation gain: 33m.
Enduro 2
- Length: 5.5km.
- Height difference: 15 m.
Enduro 3
- Length: 5.4km.
- Height difference: 45m.
Enduro 4
- Length: 2.9km.
- Height difference: 13 m.
Enduro 5
- Length: 3.3km.
- Elevation gain: 44m.
From the promontory of Monte Calamita the panorama is breathtaking and embraces the whole territory of Elba, as well as all the other islands of the archipelago, the Tuscan mainland and Corsica. The vegetation is the Mediterranean scrub, while in the highest part there are pine forests. The tracks, which can also be traveled on foot in trekking mode, skirt beaches such as those of Remaiolo, Stagnone, Sassi Neri, and former mining sites such as that of Vallone.
Races in the Capoliveri Bike Park
The ASD that manages the Park was founded at the end of 2009 and since 2010 it has organized the mountain bike race called “Capoliveri Legend Cup“, both amateur and competitive. Every year the itinerary is meticulously prepared by the staff and designed to discover the most hidden and fascinating areas of the area. Born as a simple Gran Fondo Point to Point competition, the sporting event has grown exponentially over the years. In 2014, an XC Marathon route was created for the national race and membership of the XCM Marathon Tour circuit organized by the Italian Cycling Federation took shape. In 2016, thanks to the experience acquired by the Organizing Committee and the trust placed by the FCI, the “Legend” route was included in the official calendar of the UCI MTB XC Marathon Series. 2020 was the turn of the Italian FCI MTB XC Marathon Championship. For the sports association, 2021 was the year of consecration: the first edition of the Capoliveri Legend XCO, the UCI C1 international race and stage of the Internazionali d’Italia, took place at Easter; in October of the same year the association was nominated by the Union Cycliste Internationale organizer of the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championship.
Capoliveri Legend XCO 2023
On 8 and 9 April 2023 (Saturday and Sunday of Easter) an Olympic Cross-Country Mountain Bike competition session is held on Elba on a track of the Bike Park, which hosts both a stage of the Internazionali d’Italia and a trial of the Junior World Cup of the Olympic discipline which is performed on undulating mixed routes (technical descents, forest roads, rocky paths and obstacles, including artificial ones) from 4 to 6 kilometers long. The races are held on a 4 km long section of one of the tracks; it is the blue one, which is called the Legend Cup.
The Capoliveri Legend XCO 2023 program kicks off on Friday 7 April with free practice in the afternoon. On the morning of Saturday 8 April the international competition begins, first with the UCI XCO Junior Series, and then with the Open Categories. On Easter Sunday (April 9) the youth categories compete in the Elba Bike Legend Young and, in the afternoon, the very young in the Mini Legend Bike.
