Wins for French Men's Team and Ireland's Sarah McCormack at 65th Trofeo Vanoni
In Morbegno, Italy, the elite of mountain running challenged each other just a few days before the World Championships.
The men's race was the classic relay, with teams of 3 each completing a lap of the 7.35km, 435m+ course. The women raced individually on a 5km, 248m+ route.
65th Trofeo Vanoni
After the gunshot all attention was on the race, with the French launching the young Quentin Meleux, who lead at the end of the climb. But on the descent, the captain of the Slovenians Timotej Becan gained ground, coming in first at the changeover in Via Vanoni. In third place was an excellent Matthew Knowles (Great Britain), followed by Welshman Tom Wood and Team Valtellina newcomer Mattia Gianola, freshly called up for the World Championships.
On the second leg, France took the lead again with Emmanuel Meyssat pushing hard uphill (his was the best time of the day at 29'44") and carving out a large gap on the chasing pack (a good two minutes). Behind the transalpine runners, the Italian team SA Valchiese made up ground with Marco Filosi changing to third place ahead of the Slovenians, separating them by 21 seconds. Great Britain held on to fourth place with Harry Bolton, while the Italian team La Recastello Radici Group made a great recovery with Isacco Costa.
In the third leg, it was a triumphal parade for Alexandre Fine who, like two years ago, lifted the finishing tape to the sky, stopping the clock after 1h31'39". The great recovery of captain Alberto Vender (29'52" his final time) brings the Italian champions of SA Valchiese to 2nd place, as last year, in 1h32'30", while in third and fourth place only 5 seconds divide Slovenia with Klemen Spanring in third leg (1h34'05 final time) and the excellent Great Britain with the Scottish Ross Gollan in third leg (1h34'10").
Completing the top five was La Recastello Radici Group with Luca Magri, Isacco Costa and Fabio Ruga. There was an excellent 6th place for Wales thanks to Tom Wood, Matthew Roberts and Gavin Roberts, while 7th went to the Podistica Valle Variata with Elia Mattio, Simone Giolitti and Manuel Solavaggione. In 8th, the GS Orobie of recordman Alex Baldaccini, and a strong 9th place for the GS CSI Morbegno with Marco Leoni, Francesco Bongio and Diego Rossi (first relay in the province of Sondrio). Closing the top ten were Great Britain Scott Sport UK with Ben Mounsey, Harry Holmes and Ben Rothery.
39th Vanoni Femminile
Almost a hundred athletes took part in a truly high-level women's Vanoni. The 5 km course, featuring 248 metres of climbing and descending was slippery at times due to the rain that fell during the week. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony by the president of the GS CSI Morbegno and the mayor Alberto Gavazzi, record-holder Sarah McCormack and the Italian Elisa Sortini (Atl. Alta Valtellina) immediately took the lead. They definitely had an extra gear and set off at full speed, taking the GPM at the top of the "Dosso" with a one-minute lead over home favourite Alice Gaggi (La Recastello Radici Group) and Slovenian Lucija Krkoc.
On the descent Sarah and Elisa pressed the accelerator pedal even harder. Halfway down the descent Elisa tried everything, knowing that on the final flat section of the Vanoni Street she would not be able to keep up with her Irish friend. In front of the large Morbegno supporters, at the "Tempietto", Elisa took the lead. It was a tight finish, but the record holder Sarah McCormack pulled out her remaining energy and appeared on the red carpet of Vanoni Street in the lead. She crossed the finish line smiling and victorious with an excellent time of 21'22" (4th best overall time in the history of the race), 10" ahead of Elisa Sortini, at her personal best with a time of 21'32".
Completing the podium was Italy's Alice Gaggi, who was unable to keep up with the 'train' of the first two, but still gave it her all, third in 22'54". Completing the top five were Slovenian Lucjia Kroc (23'12") and Beatrice Bianchi (La Recastello Radici Group, 23'52").
Photos by Davide Vaninetti, Angelo Testa and Roberto Ganassa.