ABT Festival - Appennino Bike Tour (Valle Agricola stage)

A Matese village at the heart of the cycling Apennines

On Saturday, July 11, 2026, Valle Agricola—a village of just over seven hundred residents nestled at 690 meters above sea level in the heart of the Matese mountains—hosted the Campania stage of the ABT Festival - Appennino Bike Tour, the major traveling event that crosses Italy along the Apennine Cycle Route. The format features only one municipality for each Apennine region: for Campania, the choice fell on this village in the Matese Regional Park, in the province of Caserta, which spent an entire day shining a spotlight on its landscape, traditions, and local food production.

The eco-friendly ride to Costa La Terra

The sporting highlight of the day was the eco-friendly bike ride, free and open to everyone, departing at 5:00 PM from Piazza XX Settembre. A route of approximately 13 kilometers, accompanied by guides from the Italian Cycling Federation, led participants to discover the Costa La Terra hamlet and the Fontana di San Nicandro. No racing, no timers: the focus here is on gentle mobility and a slow pace that allows you to truly observe the places you pass through and connect with the locals.

The Regional Forum on Sustainable Development of the Apennines

At 7:30 PM, back in Piazza XX Settembre, the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development of the Apennines took place—the institutional cornerstone of every festival stage. Around the table sat the mayor of Valle Agricola, Rocco Landi, representatives of the Campania Region, the president of the Matese Mountain Community, Fabio Civitillo, the president of the Matese National Park management committee, Andrea Boggia, and directors of trade associations.

The topics addressed are those shaping the future of Italy's inland areas:

• infrastructure and essential services for small mountain towns
• combating depopulation and creating new job opportunities for young people
• slow tourism, cycle tourism, and hiking as economic drivers
• mountain agriculture and local food supply chains
• environmental protection and management of protected areas

The conclusions from the regional forums are compiled each year into a national congress in Rome, where they are presented as a contribution to the National Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Apennines. This is what makes the ABT Festival more than just a sporting event: Apennine communities are not merely backdrops for a bike ride, but active participants bringing their needs to a national political stage.

Promotional area, stands, and tastings

From 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM, Valle Agricola hosted a promotional area dedicated to the environmental, cultural, and gastronomic excellence of the territory: association stands, sports activities, mountain bike trails, and spaces for children. A must-try were the tastings of products that have made this small Matese community famous, starting with caciocavallo and cured sausage, symbols of a mountain shepherding and butchery tradition that remains very much alive. It was a direct way to understand why, in these villages, food quality is not a marketing exercise but the result of a daily relationship with pastures and forests.

A journey from Genoa to Messina

The 2026 ABT Festival kicked off on June 19 in Genoa and concludes on September 20 in Roccafiorita, in the province of Messina, with fourteen stages spread over more than 3,100 kilometers of the Apennine ridge. The event is promoted by Vivi Appennino in partnership with the Italian Cycling Federation, ANCI, and Confcommercio Imprese per l'Italia, with Poste Italiane as the main sponsor and the collaboration of RAI. Valle Agricola was positioned between the Molise stage of Carovilli (July 10) and the Basilicata stage of Castelsaraceno (July 12), in the heart of the southern leg of the tour.

Valle Agricola and the Matese of Caserta

Tucked between Letino, Prata Sannita, Raviscanina, San Gregorio Matese, and Sant'Angelo d'Alife, Valle Agricola is one of the smallest municipalities in the province of Caserta and one of the most authentic in inland Campania. Just over twenty-four square kilometers of forests, pastures, and trails rising toward the Matese massif—a landscape far removed from the most common tourist image of the region. Hosting a national event like the ABT Festival meant, for the municipality, presenting the Apennines not as a fringe area, but as a destination with a viable future.