Sellaronda Ski Marathon: Pivk/Barazzuol win - Götsch third

The race started promptly at 18.00 p.m. in Arabba in the province of Belluno and the 650 runner-up teams from 19 nations were sent onto the partly redesigned route of this ski touring race, which is one of the largest of its kind on the international stage. The first novelty was the steep climb over the Lezuo piste from Arabba towards Pordoi Pass, as the original, much gentler route to Pont de Vauz was not accessible. For the same reason, the athletes also had to cross the Pordoi Pass via Sass Becé and the Belvedere slopes. Numerous men's teams were among the favorites for prize money of around 4.000 euros, as the record time was not up for debate this year as the changed race track did not allow a fair comparison to other years.

The first two Dolomite passes Pordoijoch and Sellajoch, the latter from Lupo Bianco instead of Canazei, were tackled by the top teams without any major rides. The dice usually fall on the last two climbs; beforehand, tactics are used and the competition is studied.

On the third climb from Wolkenstein in Val Gardena to Dantercepies on the Gardena Pass, the teams of Philip Götsch/Christian Hofmann, Filippo Barazzuol/Tadei Pivk and Filippo Beccari/Martin Stofner set the tone, with the duo Bazzana/Collé also wanting to have a say. After this climb, there is still the long descent and the foot passage to Corvara, as well as the new, difficult climb to the Campolongo Pass via Boé. At the Grödnerjoch, the Friulian Pivk and his teammate Barazzuol are around 30 seconds ahead of Bazzana/Collé, while Philip Götsch from Dorf Tirol and the Austrian Christian Hoffmann pay a small slump for the Austrian and leave in third place towards Corvara in Alta Badia. In the women's race, Martina Valmassoi from Bellunun and Viktoria Kreuzer from Switzerland dominated unchallenged until the third climb.

The order of the leading teams remains the same at the last skin change in Corvara, after the athletes had to cover the section between Colfosco and Corvara on foot. This year the last climb does not lead via Planac to the Campolongo Pass, but via the much steeper variant of Boé, which already determines the podium, with Pivk/Barazzuol in the lead, followed by Bazzana/Collé and Götsch/Hoffmann. High step sequence of the experienced Guido Giacomelli and the Gadertaler Michael Moling from Colfosco, on the hunt for the third-placed team shortly before the last pass.

When the skins were taken off for the last time at Bec de Roces, the Friulian Tadei Pivk and the Piedmontese Filippo Barazzuol could already imagine themselves as winners of the 22nd Sellaronda Ski Marathon, which ultimately became reality after 2:52.03, 42 km distance and 2.700 m altitude . In the fight for second place, the Italians Fabio Bazzana/Franco Collé can hold their own against Philipp Götsch from Dorf Tirol and Christian Hoffmann from Austria. The two teams are behind the winning duo by +2.43 and +3.39 respectively. For Tadei Pivk it is the 4th victory in the last 5 years, always with a different teammate.

On the other hand, the women provide pure excitement, with the Valmassoi/Kreuzer leadership team having to struggle with the Swiss's defective headlamp. This slows them down on the fast descents, so that their pursuers Dimitra Teocharis from Friuli and Verena Krenslehner-Schmid from Austria can come dangerously close to them. The decision will be made on the last descent, where the leaders can maintain a minimal lead of 12 seconds over their pursuers until the finish line in Arabba. The winning time for the women is 3:45:02. Third place goes to the Italians Corinna Ghirardi and Tatiana Locatelli, a full 11 minutes behind.

The mixed category, on the other hand, celebrates a South Tyrolean victory with the Wipptalers Birgit Stuffer and Alexander Polig with a total time of 3:41.04 ahead of the Austrians Verena Hoffmann/Daniel Aschbacher (+3.30) and the second Austrian team of Marita Kröhn/Niklas Kröhn (+4.43 ).

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Sellaronda Ski Marathon: Pivk/Barazzuol win - Götsch third

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