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Vertical Nasego: Mayr keeps her title while Kipngeno breaks the record!

The first day of racing at Nasego in the northern region of Italy saw impressive victories from Andrea Mayr and Patrick Kipngeno.

SML M.G. Womens PodWritten by María Ávila for WMRA.

Both climbed the vertical race with impeccable performances leaving Monica Madalina Florea on the women's side and Zak Hanna on the men's with second position. Valentina Belotti and Philemon Ombogo completed the podium to take the third places respectively. 

Through a 4,3 km course, the athletes completed 1000 meters of ascension. The results of this meeting were a new record on the men's side and turning points for the women's standings over the World Cup. 

Women's Race

The competence in the women's race started with Andrea Mayr as a leading figure and Monica Madalina close to her while Joyce Muthoni was behind them. The runners were close to each other. However, in the last 600 meters, the Austrian won an advantage of more than a minute over the others. At the same time, Muthoni was left behind in fourth place, overpassed by the Italian Valentina Belotti. 

After 38 minutes and 48 seconds, Andrea Mayer raised her hands in the arrival line, becoming the first entrance through the arch of victory of Vertical Nasego; Two minutes after her, the Romanian athlete Monica Madalina Florea was arriving with the sparkle of an experienced participant. Behind them, Valentina Belotti was consecrating herself the third place in the race. 

This result is not surprising since Andrea Mayr obtained first and second place in the previous two editions. Despite her impeccable performance, Mayr was left only nine seconds behind the race record she established in 2019. This date presents new scenarios for the Valsir World Mountain Cup. So far, Muthoni felt untouchable, obtaining a first place on the podium of every competition she participated in. On the other hand, Monica Madalina Florea continues climbing to the top since her 3rd place at Giir di Mont Uphill. 

Full women's results are here.

Men's Race

SML Giacomo MeneghelloOn the male side, the race was shoulder to shoulder between Patrick Kipnego and Zak Hanna. At the last ramp, Kipnego pushed harder, arriving first and breaking a record that already seemed unbeatable since it was recorded in 2019. The Kenyan runner registered a time of 33’47”, which leaves the previous 35’17” mark behind. 

Verticale represents the awaited comeback of Zak Hanna to the top runners with second place. The Irish athlete who occupies the fourth place in the table of positions of the Valsir World Cup might become a threat to the Run2gether duo of Kipnego and Ombogo. The last mentioned was saved from sliding down the ranking thanks to his third place.

The effort from Henri Aymonod was not enough to get him to the first position as in the previous two editions of the Vertical. The Italian arrived in 4th place on this occasion with a time of 35’15”. However, Aymonod might be able to recover some ground in the Valsir World Cup classification during tomorrows Trofeo Nasego. 

The runners who will try to double up with two races in Casto over the weekend can count on only a few hours of recovery from this race before competing the next day at the Trofeo Nasego. This will consist of a 21,45 km race distance which will be a big challenge for the athletes that have been traditionally competed in short courses. 

Full men's results are here.

Valsir World Cup results after 12 races are here.

Check out full photo galleries from Marco Gulberti, Giacomo Meneghello and Paolo Piccoli.