Weisenhorn and Pircher win the 14th Ötzi Alpine Marathon

The wonderful panorama, from which you can see the entire Vinschgau Alps far beyond the Ortler, crowned the stoic South Tyrolean Oswald Weisenhorn from the Martini Speed Team as the winner of this extreme race, followed by the winter triathlete Daniel Antonioli from CS Esercito and the Austrian Robert Berger. But when we talk about Ironmen, we don't just mean men, of course, quite the opposite: Anna Pircher from Laces from the Martini Speed Team won the women's race for the third time, followed by two other South Tyroleans on the podium, namely Gerlinde Baldauf from TT Vinschgau and Helga Flora Platzgummer from Fullsport Meran.

The starting signal was given at 9 a.m. in the charming village center of Naturns, from there the athletes covered the first 24,2 kilometers and 1.570 meters in altitude to Our Lady. There they swapped MTBs for running shoes and ran 11,3 kilometers and 495 meters in altitude to Kurras on a route that was made even tougher by the last remnants of snow. They tried as much as possible to save energy for the final effort: for the following 6,7 km, the participants strapped on touring skis and skins to climb another 1.200 meters in altitude to the mountain station on the Senales Glacier, not far from the Ötzi mountain. The discovery site, which also gives this event its name, has to be overcome.

Weisenhorn is an unbeatable Ironman For more than half of the race it seemed as if the laurels would go not to a South Tyrolean, but to an athlete from Lombardy: after the mountain bike route, partly with the bike on his shoulders up the steep Sonnenberg, and the running route seemed Antonioli from Lecco seems to have finally won the lead. But he was caught and overtaken by Oswald Weisenhorn. The Mals athlete had already proven his skills in two previous editions with a place on the podium and today dominated the MTB course. Like a fury, he fought his way up the snow walls towards the glacier paradise of Grawand, so that he left the Azzurro behind by 6 minutes and 11 seconds. “After 20 minutes of climbing on skis, I caught up with Antonioli and was able to overtake him, then I continued at my rhythm,” said Weisenhorn. Antonioli, already world champion in winter triathlon, is still satisfied: “This is my first podium at the Ötzi Marathon, I was here a few years ago, but had a crisis at the end; This year, thanks to more experience and perseverance, I was able to give my best.”

Pircher secures his third victory among the women It was a completely different story for the women, where Anna Pircher dominated the race from start to finish without giving her opponents even a shred of hope. At the first change, when she laced up her running shoes on the lush green meadows of Unser Frau, the athlete from Laces was already over 7 minutes ahead and was therefore able to complete the rest of the race without stress. “This is my third victory at the Ötzi, I knew from the start that I could do it, even if you have to say that this race demands a lot from you,” said the winner.

The men's team victory goes to Adidas Terrex, and Tiroler Versicherung wins the women's team But athletes who can cycle, run and ski in one race are a rarity: That's why there were many “specialists” at the start of this Alpine marathon who completed the race as a relay. In this category, the winner was the Adidas Terrex team, formed by the Austrian Jackob Herrman, an internationally recognized Alpine skier, as well as Mirco Tabacchi and Osvaldo Zanella from Belluno. “It was a fantastic race,” said the enthusiastic Tabacchi, “we were in the lead from the start.” As for the female relay, the coveted victory went to the Tiroler Versicherung team with Lorenza Menapace, Petra Pircher and Birgit Stuffer left their opponents far behind.

The numerous and enthusiastic participants, over 300, met the expectations of the organizers, who were visibly pleased by the tired but smiling faces of the athletes on the Grawand. There are no losers in such extreme and spectacular races: all intrepid participants deserve the highest honor at over 3.200 m. After the bike, running shoes and skis, the athletes then waited for the descent with the cable car from Grawand to fortify themselves at the big pasta party in Unser Frau. The exciting route, the magnificent panorama, the celebratory atmosphere and of course the bright sun will certainly be remembered by the athletes for a long time.

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Weisenhorn and Pircher win the 14th Ötzi Alpine Marathon

In bright sunshine in Naturns and the Senales Valley, the Ironmen once again paid homage to the iceman this year: The Ötzi Alpine Marathon took place today for the 14th time, taking the athletes from Naturns, 550 m, to the glacier in the Senales Valley at 3.212 m and is organized by ASV Schnals.

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