- Tadei Pivk (ITA) and Filippo Barazzuol (ITA) are the winners of the 22° Sellaronda Skimarathon, which started and finished in Arabba in the province of Belluno.
- Success for Martina Valmassoi (ITA) and Viktoria Kreuzer (SUI) in the female race.
- All the organizers, coordinated by Oswald Santin can consider themselves satisfied.
Right on time at 6 pm the 22nd edition of the Sellaronda Skimarathon set off from Arabba in the Province of Belluno. The itinerary’s first variant made the athletes detour up the tough section of the “Lezuo” ski slope towards Passo Pordoi, which is usually reached by the more gradual ascent of Pont de Vauz. The same thing happened at Passo Pordoi, which was tackled along Sass Becè which lies level with the ski slopes of Belvedere. There were many teams among the male athletes considered to be favourites for the winning position at the beginning of the race, looking to win the 4.000 euros prize money. The race’s record was a no brainer since there were too many variants from the original itinerary and this would not have allowed an equal comparison. The first two mountain passes, Pordoi and Sella, were tackled from Lupo Bianco, since it was impossible to reach the town of Canazei in Val di Fassa and as forecast were reached by the first teams with no great battles. The going got tough up the last two ramps, and before that moment the race consisted of pure tactics and the athletes mutually observing each other.
Up the third ascent from Selva di Val Gardena towards Dantercepies to Passo Gardena it was the teams Philip Götsch/Christian Hoffmann, Filippo Barazzuol/Tadei Pivk and Filippo Beccari/Martin Stofner who dictated the pace, as they prepared for the descent with a section on foot leading to Corvara in Alta Badia and then the last ascent, which was a lot more difficult this year, towards Passo Campolongo. Among the women it was the athlete from Belluno Martina Valmassoi and the Swiss Viktoria Kreuzer who were ahead of everyone along the third ascent, thanks to their sustained rhythm.
The first to ski down from Dantercepies was the team Tadei Pivk/Filippo Barazzuol with approximately 30 seconds advantage over Bazzana/Collé, |