SRAM has today announced its second year of title sponsorship of the 2011 XX Maremma Cup, which will take place in Massa Marittima, Italy, from 26 February to 6 March.

The world’s top XC racers and SRAM XX athletes will all attend the XX Maremma Cup, which has now established itself as an important pre-season event for XC racing.

World Champion Jose Hermida, World Cup champion Nino Schurter, two-times Olympic Gold medalist Julien Absalon and Italian XC star Marco Aurelio Fontana are just some of the stars of the 2011 XX Maremma Cup.

Teams like Scott-Swisspower, Multivan Merida, Cannondale Factory Racing, Orbea and many others have chosen the XX Maremma Cup as their debut for the new racing season, to test the new bikes and equipment on a world class course with top level racing.
 
SRAM’s connection to Massa Marittima and the XX Maremma Cup is a very special one: XX, the world’s first 2X10 MTB groupset, was introduced to the world in spring 2009 in Massa Marittima, while the first prototypes had been tested there a few months earlier at the Maremma Cup. From then on, SRAM XX has ruled XC racing worldwide, dominating both the World Cup and World Championships in both 2009 and 2010.
 
One of the masterminds of the XX Maremma Cup is MTB legend Thomas Frischknecht: “We are proud to present the 2nd edition of the XX Maremma Cup powered by SRAM  as a “hors category” XC event, the highest level for a race below a World Cup event.

“We are lucky to have the best ingredients to organize the kick off of the 2011 mountain bike season. With SRAM as title sponsor and the best riders from over 15 nations we have a true get together of the mountain bike racing scene. Combined with the good food, great region and sun of Tuscany it makes for a real nice happening. And the riding in Maremma is just spectacular!”
 
More at www.maremmacup.com and  www.sram.com