From 28 February to 5 April 2026, the Madonna del Ghisallo Cycling Museum inaugurates the new season by reopening with the temporary exhibition “Legendary Mountains. Stories of Champions.” The exhibition presents a display route that brings the landscapes of cycling into dialogue with those of winter sports, illuminated by the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The exhibition has become part of the Milano Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad, a multidisciplinary, plural and widespread programme that, on the occasion of this edition of the Winter Games, is animating Italy by promoting Olympic and Paralympic values through culture, heritage and sport.
At the summit of the Ghisallo pass, “Legendary Mountains. Stories of Champions” takes shape as a parallel slalom of emotions between athletes of two wheels and those of winter sports—women and men who have crossed different eras and unforgettable Olympic cycles, leaving on the same peaks the indelible traces of their sporting achievements.
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Stelvio Pass, Passo del Mortirolo, Dolomiti di Cortina, Livigno, Predazzo: places to train and places to win.
During the Olympic months, they stand at the center of global attention—locations that for over a century have served as natural stages for epic cycling battles and historic victories on the snow.
The exhibition opens the museum’s 2026 season at the height of the Olympic Games, capturing the tourist flow between Milan and the Alpine Olympic venues, and offering visitors a cross-cutting narrative that brings together sporting heritage, local identity, and contemporary relevance.
Throughout the exhibition period, conferences and guided tours are scheduled as part of a cultural project that highlights the deep bond between the mountains, Italian sport, and national identity.
This journey can be experienced every day at the museum—carved into the rock and overlooking the Grigna—high above on the Ghisallo Pass in Magreglio.
The exhibition route presents symbolic pairings—and even “foursomes”—that bring back powerful sporting memories: from pioneers Alfonsina Strada and Paula Wiesinger, to Fausto Coppi and Zeno Colò; from Francesco Moser and Gustav Thöni, to Gianbattista Baronchelli and Paolo De Chiesa; Claudia Giordani and Maria Canins; Fabiana Luperini and Paola Magoni; Marco Pantani and Alberto Tomba; Paola Pezzo and Deborah Compagnoni.
The line-up continues with Paolo Savoldelli and Kristian Ghedina; Vincenzo Nibali and Dominik Paris; Elisa Balsamo and Sofia Goggia; Elisa Longo Borghini and Federica Brignone.
In short: a parallel slalom across disciplines reflecting gold, silver and bronze—athletes who have made the mountains of our sporting imagination truly legendary.
The exhibition also features a special and highly symbolic tribute to Antonella Bellutti:
“To Antonella Bellutti, a unique figure in Italian and Olympic sport: two gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games in track cycling; participation in the Winter Games in the two-woman bobsleigh at the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics as brakewoman alongside Gerda Weissensteiner (seventh place); and a journey that for over 25 years has continued ‘beyond competition’ through civic and cultural commitment with Assist – Associazione Nazionale Atlete, defending rights and gender equality in sport. Because, as she told La Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview by Alessandra Giardini: ‘I wanted to change sport in Italy: I realised that the real challenge is not only to win, but to work at the grassroots level, on rights and opportunities.’”
The museum is open everyday starting from 28 February 2026, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with continuous opening hours.
The exhibition is conceived by the Museo del Ciclismo Madonna del Ghisallo and curated by its director, Carola Gentilini.
Texts are by Luciana Rota, with contributions from Max Cassani, author of Rialzati e cammina. Dieci storie di salvezza grazie alla montagna (e una playlist), published by Monterosa Edizioni in 2025.
