The "Tagliagambe" - Marciana Marina

Traditional cycling and running race at the start of the summer season on the Island of Elba

From the first edition, born as a joke by four friends, many years have passed, full of bets, records, and satisfactions.

La Tagliagambe has become a classic Elban event of cycling and running that kicks off the Elba summer season. Over the years, it has gained increasing popularity in Italy with athletes coming from Bolzano, Turin, and Reggio Emilia, and even abroad: Germany, Finland, and Austria.

Curiosity: In the first two editions (2005 and 2006), only one runner participated in the running category.

Organized by the Tagliagambe group in collaboration with the AVIS of Marciana Marina and under the patronage of the Municipality of Marciana Marina, it is a true 9 km climb that, from the name itself, hints at the difficulty of the route. It rises from Marciana Marina to 600 meters on Monte Perone, with slopes reaching up to 13%.

Over the years, the records for both the running race and the cycling race have been broken, thanks to the significantly increased level of competitors.

As a testament to how ready the people of Marciana Marina are to embrace any challenge, over the years some original competitions and novelties have been introduced: in 2013, a race with “Graziella” bicycles without gears was held, starting from Poggio and ending at Monte Perone. Since 2015, the "team" category has been added.

Curiosity: Even Alex Zanardi, just before the 2016 Rio Paralympics (where he won two gold medals and one silver), trained on the roads around Monte Perone, praising the beauty and difficulty of the course, and tweeted, not without self-irony: "My race! Notice the name in pink... I’ll have to do it someday; Marciana Marina-Monte Perone. Beautiful climb!!!"

Infoelba recommends: For more information about registrations and rules for the Tagliagambe, visit the elbaeventi.it website in the sports category!