Roland Clara wins Gsiesertal run

"I'm overjoyed because I knew that I had very strong opponents today who are more comfortable on long distances than me," explained Clara at the finish. He was referring to the 2006 Turin Olympic champions, Cristian Zorzi, Pietro Piller Cottrer and Giorgio Di Centa, but also Fabio Santus, Simone Parodi and Sergio Bonaldi, who are members of the national marathon team.

The 10th edition of the “Gsieser” started in St. Martin at 29 a.m. sharp. Under an overcast sky, all the stars ran together in a leading group of 30. Even the strongest women Antonella Confortola, Sabina Valbusa, Marina Piller, Veronika Vitkova and Clara Bettega were initially able to keep up with the men. As in the previous year, everything boiled down to a duel between Roland Clara and Thomas Moriggl. However, Fabio Santus secured the two sprint classifications.

When the climb to St. Magdalena began about three quarters of the way, Clara increased the pace and pulled away. “Initially only Pietro Piller Cottrer could keep up. I was still waiting for him then. But when I saw that he was getting into trouble, I ran away. I wanted to prevent the others from catching up," said Clara at the finish, who celebrated his first victory in Casies today. Last year's winner Thomas Moriggl, who also won the 30 km diagonal race yesterday, came second this time.

Antonella Confortola prevails among women For the Freauen, Antonella Confortola repeated her victory from last year, ahead of her national team colleagues Sabina Valbusa and Clara Bettega. However, Confortola's smile at the finish was a bit pained. "I ran in my trainer's shoes today and they are three sizes bigger than mine. However, they were the only ones I could tolerate," said the Forstwoche athlete. Confortola suffered frostbite on his toes in Garmisch two weeks ago. Their victory in Gsies was nevertheless safe. She won with a lead of 2.32 minutes over Valbusa and over seven minutes over Bettega.

Valbusa took part in the Gsieser Valley Run for the first time today. Six years ago she won the Olympic relay bronze medal in Pragelato with Confortola. "My brother Fulvio and his teammates won gold in the relay on February 2006, 19. We won bronze the day before. When I thought about it, I was touched. It's a shame that my brother, of all people, was missing today." At the subsequent prize distribution, Zorzi, Piller Cottrer and Di Centa were celebrated with the gold medals from 2006. For the souvenir photo, “Bubu”, the “Gsieser” mascot, took the place of Fulvio Valbusa. Coincidence or not, Valbusa is also called Bubu!

Victory in the women's 30 km race went to Veronika Vitkova. The Czech, who is the best in her country in the Biathlon World Cup, won ahead of Marina Piller and the Slovenian Mirjam Cossettini. For Vitkokova, it was the first cross-country ski race of her career without a rifle on her back. She still hit the mark. Among the men, Enrico Nizzi was the fastest on the short distance. He relegated Sergio Bonaldi (winner the day before over 42 km classic) and Roberto De Zolt to their places.

On the two days of the competition, more than 2000 athletes took part in Gsies, over 100 of them in the "Just for Fun", where the participants had fun even without timekeeping. For the first time, the “Gsieser” also featured a combination of diagonal and skating races. Reinhard Kargruber and Barbara Felderer won the 30 km and Alfio Di Gregorio and Renate Forstner won the 42 km. Next year the Gsieser Valley Run will celebrate its 30th anniversary.

Results Gsiesertal run - skating race (February 19, 2012) Men, 42 km 1. Roland Clara 1.36.24.36 2. Thomas Moriggl 1.37.02.74 3. Fabio Santus 1.37.03.15 4. Johannes Dürr 1.37.03.18 5. Pietro Piller Cottrer 1.37.03.21 6. Simone Paredi 1.37.33.75 7. Cristian Zorzi 1.37.34.05 8. Daniel Yeuilla 1.37.34.09 9. Paolo Fanton 1.37.40.29 10. Riccardo Romani 1.37.53.24

Women, 42 km 1. Antonella Confortola1.47.48.1 2. Sabina Valbusa 1.50.20.86 3. Clara Bettega 1.55.18.10 4. Veronica De Martin Pinter 1.57.31.72 5. Chiara Caminada 1.59.49.24 6. Renate Forstner 2.03.39.25 7. Nicoletta Pagliero 2.05.29.81 8. Simonetta Carbogno 2.07.16.75 9. Lysanne Zago 2.07.29.00 10. Claudia Rizzieri 2.07.57,84

Men, 30 km 1. Enrico Nizzi 1.07.54.13 2. Sergio Bonaldi 1.07.56.21 3. Roberto De Zolt Ponte 1.07.56.34 4. Mattia Quinz 1.07.56.91 5. Peter Madsen Kling 1.08.13.50 6. Reinhard Kargruber 1.08.13.51 7. Matteo Tanel 1.08.17.46 8. Alan Martinelli 1.08.35.09 9. Andreas Nöckler 1.09.31.00 10. Ivo Nöckler 1.09.31.59

Women, 30 km 1. Veronika Vitkova 1.12.53.09 2. Marina Piller 1.12.53.97 3. Mirjam Cossettini 1.13.14.85 4. Christa Perathoner 1.20.24.96 5. Laura Colnaghi 1.26.12.62 6. Irmgard Strickner Wurzer 1.26.52.18 7. Barbara Perini 1.27.15.84 8. Barbara Felderer 1.27.37.82 9. Brigitte Hofmann 1.31.41.96 10. Sonja Mair 1.32.39.57

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Roland Clara wins Gsiesertal run

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