September 11

TOR DES GEANTS 2019: Oliviero Bosatelli wins TDG for the second time, with a time of 72h37m. Silvia Triguero leads women and is 7th overall

Posted by mayayo oxigeno on September 11, 2019 in tor des geants, tor des geants 2019, trail running, trail running spain, Ultra Trail | Leave a comment

Tor des Géants is a 357k/D+25.300m ultra trail which takes place all over the Aosta Valley, Italy, in September, with its start and the finish at Courmayeur. The course must be completed in less than 150 hours, counting on over 43 refreshment points and among them 7 life bases, which allow full services to the runners, included a much needed place to sleep for the popular runner, while the elite get by on along three days hardly stoping for a nap at all.. The completion rate is about 60%.

This X edition event includes 4 races, from the longest Tor des Glaciers with 450k to the classic Tor des Geants 357k, the 130k for Tot Dret and finally the Tor de Malatrá for 30k. The three ultras are now ongoing, while the last one will launch on the weekend. Oliviero Bosatelli arrived past noon today to win at Courmayeur for the second time, taking 72h37m.

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TOR DE GEANTS RACE REPORT UPDATE. BOSATELLI WINS WITH 72H37M

Oliviero Bosatelli is the winner of the tenth edition of Tor des Géant. The giant from Bergamo, Team E-Rock, crossed the finish line in Courmayeur this morning at lunch time, concluding his hard voyage in 72h37’13”.

Bosatelli, 50 years old, firefighter, collects his second victory at TOR after 2016. Waiting for him, to celebrate the event, his wife Nadia with a cake and two candles that “Popeye”, as his fans club call him, blew out with the last breath remained in his lungs, visibly touched.
Bosatelli spent the first part of the race wisely: in the first 100 km he stayed behind Franco Collé and Peter Kienzl, both retired after the first night for physical problems. At Donnas life base, right before the half of the race, the turning point: “Bosa” comes in second, behind French Romain Olivier, great protagonist this year, but stopped only 15 minutes and took the first place. From then on, despite a painful knee and other problems, never looked back

.“I almost withdrew twice the first night for a problem at the right eye, and then for a bad bronchitis and subsequent difficulties in breathing. We all suffered the freezing cold, particularly during the first night”. The champion bit the bullet and continued his race, focusing on every single step. “I understood that I would win only here, on the finish line: many people yesterday told me that I had a big advantage, but I did not believe it until the end”.

Bosatelli joins Franco Collé in the hall of fame with two victories, although he did not make better than his personal best (69h16’19”) in 2017, when he came second behind Javi Dominguez Ledo (67h52’15”, record of the race).
He spent his sports life running marathons, but approached trail only recently and obtained immediately great results: second at Orobie Ultra Trail in 2015 and a victory in 2016, winning TOR in 2016 and Tor des Châteaux in 2017, when he was also second at TOR (last year he was fourth), while this year he was third at Südtirol Ultra Skyrace 2019 – Ultra Skyrace.

In second position arrived Galen Reynolds after 77h06m. Galen tried to make life difficult for him, and was only one hour behind Bosatelli in Valtournenche, but had to slow down yesterday for important breathing problems. He arrived at Courmayeur in the afternoon, more than four hours later than the winner. In third position French Romain Olivier, who after three days seemed to be recovering and got as close as only one hour behind Reynolds.

The women ranking is always led by an extraordinary Silvia Trigueros Garrote, seventh overall, with many hours of advantage on Jocelyne Pauly and Sonia Furtado. She is expected to finish her race in the first hours of tomorrow, Thursday 12 September.

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TOR’S 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION: HISTORY

History of Tor des Géants: TDG was born as a different experince, from its start in 2010. Around 2000 volunteers are used to organize the race. Due to the alpine condition of the course with a race summit at Col Loson ovr 3.300m weather is an additional obstacle to be very much counted upon, with temperatures dropping at some points below -10ºC. As they travel, competitors can encounter sun, rain, wind, and even snow. Over the years, mountain conditions have greatly influenced the race.

The inaugural edition was in 2010. The 2012 edition was interrupted on the fourth night and stopped on the fifth day at En Bosses (303 km). About 70 runners completed the whole course. The 2013 edition was marked by the death of the Chinese runner, Yang Yuan. He fell and he hit his head on rocks during the first rainy night of the race. There is a monument at the site of the accident. The cairn has inscribed a poem written by Yang Yuan. The 2015 edition was interrupted on the third night due to severe weather and stopped on the fourth night, because Col Malatra got covered by ice. Only six runners completed the whole distance. In 2016 local authorities organized a competing race 4K VK alleging concerns for runner’s safety and the costs. That race started and ended in Cogne and went clockwise (unlike Tor) but had no continuity ever since. From Tor 2017 onwards, where the current record of 67h52m was set by spaniard Javier Dominguez Ledo, the organizers have introduced a geolocation service via GPS system which displays full data in real time for each athlete.