The 9th Ötzi Alpine Marathon ends with a surprise victory

A total of 520 athletes from nine countries took part in the 9th Ötzi Alpine Marathon. These included the Swiss cycling world champion from 1998, Oscar Camenzind, and the Norwegian cross-country sprint Olympic champion from Salt Lake City in 2002, Tor-Arne Hetland. The international extreme marathon over 42,2 km and 3266 meters in altitude from Naturns to the Senales Glacier includes the disciplines of mountain biking, running and ski mountaineering. The individual athletes started at 9 a.m. in front of the Naturno town hall, and the relay team started at 10 a.m. Down in the valley there were ideal weather conditions with slightly plus temperatures while it was snowing on the glacier.

Exciting duel for the men

Georg Piazza from Val Gardena won the men's event. The 32-year-old completed the 42,2 km and 3266 meters in altitude in 3:36.25 hours ahead of the winner of the first South Tyrolean Extreme Marathon in 2004, Roland Osele from Meran (+1.13,6:2.42,3 minutes). The two-time winner from Austria (2007, 2008) Stefan Kogler came third, 2006:2009 minutes behind. His compatriot Heinz Verbnjak, winner in XNUMX and XNUMX, had to retire early after a fall on the mountain bike course.

Piazza, who until a few months ago competed in mountain bike races in the elite class, was the fastest on the bike course. Although Stefan Kogler and Heinz Verbnjak were in the lead after the start in Naturns, Piazza was the first to reach the transition zone in Unser Frau after 24,2 km and 986 meters in altitude. Veteran Roland Osele was 22 seconds behind, but was still able to catch up with the inexperienced Piazza in the transition area. Together the two completed almost the entire running section of 11,8 km and 503 meters in altitude. Towards the end, Piazza was able to pull away and enter Kurzras with a lead of around ten seconds. Osele was quicker when switching to skis and was the first to start uphill towards the glacier. Piazza was first able to catch up with him and then overtake him to be the first to cross the finish line at the Grawand mountain station. Oscar Camenzind, the 1998 cycling world champion, came 28th, Tor-Arne Hetland, the Norwegian cross-country sprint Olympic champion from 2002, 49th.

Rating men’s singles: 1. Piazza Georg, 1979, Ortisei (BZ) 3:36.25,8 (190). 2. Osele Roland, 1970, Meran (BZ) 3:37.39,4 (2). 3. Kogler Stefan, 1971, A-St. Gilgen 3:39.08,1 (1). 4. Hug Alexander, 1975, CH-Sargans 3:42.14,6 (3). 5. Piccoli Alessandro, 1972, Cave del Predil (UD) 3:43.23,7 (176). 6. Steiner Toni, 1965, Laas (BZ) 3:46.17,8 (12). 7. Miklosa Matjaz, 1975, SLO-Kranj 3:47.26,5 (7). 8. Fissneider Daniel, 1988, Kastelbell Tschars (BZ) 3:48.10,4 (8). 9. Kroehn Niklas, 1971, A-Villach 3:51.59,8 (4). 10. Huber Andreas, 1986, D-Ruhpolding 3:57.55,1 (61). Statement Georg Piazza, winner: " I'm very satisfied. When I took part for the first time, I underestimated the changes from one discipline to another and therefore lost valuable time. I had good legs from start to finish and my wife Christina (former member of the Italian national cross-country skiing team) looked after me well. In addition, my work colleague Urban Zemmer, who holds the distance record for ski mountaineering, gave me the most important tips on how to distribute my strength correctly on the last section. Actually, I couldn't imagine competing with the best. I have always modeled myself on Roland Osele. As a mountain biker, I had certain advantages on the first section of the route, especially on the descents. I had surprisingly good legs when running and still had enough reserves when skiing. I had decided to use my strength carefully so as not to end up like Ötzi, who died before the finish line.”

Clear victory for the women

In the women's category, the former European mountain bike marathon champion and winner of the Dolomiti Superbike, Andrea Huser from Switzerland, won with a total time of 4:33.14,4 hours. The 39-year-old distanced second-placed Gaiser Andrea Innerhofer, who had already finished second behind Laura Mazzucco in 2007 and third behind Alexandra Hober in 2009, by 10.56 minutes. The Austrian Andrea Höller came third, 13.46 minutes behind. Last year's third, Valentina Dainese from Pflersch, came fourth this year (+29 minutes).

Huser's victory was never up for debate. The Bernese Oberlander from Lauterbrunnen achieved the best time on all three sections. She completed the mountain bike route in 1:36,02 hours and already in the first section gained a reassuring lead of 3'28" over Andrea Höller from Maishofen in the Salzburger Land, who later placed third. Andrea Innerhofer came into the first transition zone almost a minute behind. The 39-year-old employee of a food company overtook Höller in the running section from Unser Frau to Kurzras and switched to skis in second place, about six minutes behind the leader. Innerhofer still lost a few minutes to the eventual winner, but was able to maintain her lead over Höller, who achieved the second fastest time in ski mountaineering.

Rating women’s singles: 1. Huser Andrea, 1973, CH-Lauterbrunnen 4:33.14,4 (263). 2. Innerhofer Andrea, 1973, Gais (BZ) 4:44.11,0 (251). 3. Höller Andrea, 1972, A-Maishofen 4:47.01,1 (258). 4. Danese Valentina, 1984, Vipiteno (BZ) 5:02.15,1 (250). 5. Waiss Anita, 1968, A-Griffen 5:25.11,2 (255).6. Leitner Josefina, 1986, Pfunders (BZ) 5:29.13,7 (262). 7.Schwienbacher Angelika, 1975, Martell (BZ) 5:37.53,7 (253). 8. Larice Lidia, 1963, Tolmezzo (UD) 5:51.32,3 (256). 9. Plank Erika, 1984, A-Pfons 6:14.01,4 (252).

Statement Andrea Huser, winner: "I'm so happy. It was my first time taking part and it worked straight away. I raced mountain bikes until 2004, then from 2006 I decided to take part in multi-sport events. My cycling experience certainly benefited me today. I had stomach problems while running and the mountain air also bothered me while skiing. I wanted to take part in this event years ago, but it only finally happened this year, even though I only decided to take part at short notice.”

The running section of the men's relay is crucial

The top favorite in the men's relay competition was last year's winning team Flachau KTM Racing with the former Austrian professional cyclist Hans Peter Obwaller, the strong Sarner runner Hannes Rungger and the Fassan ski mountaineer and long-distance specialist Ivo Zulian. But after the first part it looked as if the Telmekom team, consisting of the three South Tyroleans Klaus Fontana, Hermann Achmüller and Paul Innerhofer, could deny them victory. Klaus Fontana was 27 seconds faster on his mountain bike than Obwaller, who was even 1.20 minutes behind at times. But after the change, runner Hannes Rungger showed his full class and distanced Hermann Achmüller by a full four minutes. The ski mountaineer Ivo Zulian was able to tackle the final section over 6,2 km and 1201 meters in altitude with a reassuring lead. The Flachau team won in 3:10.01 hours and won the Ötzi Alpine Marathon for the second time in a row. The Telmekom team crossed the finish line 3.34:120 minutes behind. The Bogn da nia team with Stefan Unterthurner, Franco Torresani and Guido Pinamonti came in third, securing victory in the Over XNUMX category.

Rating men’s team competition: 1. FLACHAU KTM RACING TEAM (Obwaller, Rungger, Zulian) 3:10.01; 2. Telmekom Team South Tyrol (Fontana, Achmüller, Innerhofer) 3:13.35; 3. BOGN DA NIA (Unterthurner, Torresani, Pinamonti) 3:18. 58.

Women's winning relay team is in a class of its own

Victory in the women's relay went to the South Tyrolean team Odlo with Alexandra Hober (MTB), who won the individual competition in 2011 and the relay race in 2004, Edeltraud Thaler (running) and Annemarie Gross (ski mountaineering). The team of three needed 3:54.39,2 hours to complete the marathon route. The Jenesien Soltnflitzer team with Claudia Wegmann, Petra Pircher and Brunhilde Mitterstieler came in second, 11.47 minutes behind. Third place, however, went to Sabine Gandini, Manuela Perathoner and Giulia Tagliapietra (+16.56 mins). The favored team eatandwin.de from Germany came in fourth place. The winning team was able to pull away on the bike course and gain a big lead, which was further extended right up to the finish.

Rating women’s team competition: 1. TEAM ODLO (Hober, Thaler, Gross) 3:54.9; 2. ASV JENESIEN SLTNFLITZER (Wegmann, Pircher, Mitterstieler) 4:06.26; 3. Team Gardena-Sport Amplatz-Mammut (Gandini, Perathoner, Tagliapietra) 4:11.36.

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The 9th Ötzi Alpine Marathon ends with a surprise victory

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