“They say that life
begins at 40,
that age is just
a state of mind.
If all that is true,
I guess I must have been
dead for 39 years.
And if life begins at 40,
well, I hope it won’t be
the same:
it’s already been far too hard.”

So sang John Lennon in Life Begins at 40. It is hard to believe that forty years have already passed since that very first ride — a ride among friends, among amateur cyclists — that marked the beginning of this extraordinary adventure we call our Maratona.

Thirty-nine Maratonas are now behind us. What a wonderful journey life is, and how fortunate we are to be able to count them. How fortunate we are to be here once again.

Our Maratona is coming of age. Yes, our Maratona — and therefore yours as well. Because the Maratona belongs to everyone who has ever been part of it: the organisers, the volunteers, the friends waiting for us along the roadside, and all those who helped turn a dream, a discovery shared among friends, into a global event — one that is followed, celebrated and eagerly awaited.

The Maratona is coming of age, and with this new edition it sets out towards many more years of cycling, happiness and friendship.
How fortunate we are to be here again. How extraordinarily fortunate we are. Or perhaps we should call it a gift from God, or Providence. Giulan. Thank you, Mother Earth, for giving us these mountain passes and these magnificent peaks. What better way to celebrate you than with a bold, silent climb — and this year, with music in the air.

Since 2000, each Maratona has been dedicated to a theme, something to inspire us and spur us onwards. And this year, with forty wheels on the birthday cake, we celebrate through music and song — with the spirit of someone who is thirty, twenty, perhaps only ten years old. Or, why not, with the spirit of someone who knows that even after forty years, deep down, it will still feel just like the very first time.
The hushed sound of slender tyres gliding over the road: first climbing, then descending, then climbing once more. And perhaps, every now and then, stopping to gaze into the distance.

Because the most beautiful music of all is the music we discover within ourselves — the rhythm, fast or slow, that accompanies the story of our lives on two wheels.
After all, these are only the first forty Maratonas.
How many more are waiting for us beyond the next climb?
We will be a gentle avalanche, flowing together over the mountain passes.

“I took my love, took it down,
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills,
'Til the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?”

Of course we are ready to embrace the seasons of life, and of course we can rediscover the child within us. No one is ever truly forty, no one is ever truly a child, and no one is ever truly old. What matters is where we are — and where the journey takes us.

Long live the Maratona! Long live Music!

Let’s celebrate together on July 4, 2027!

Michil Costa