May 17

PORTE DI PIETRA 2021 (72K/D+4.400M)ULTRA TRAIL ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Posted by Héctor Rubio on May 17, 2021 in trail running spain | 1 Comment

PORTE DI PIETRA 2021 (72K/D+4.400M)ULTRA TRAIL ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Our TRAIL RUNNING ITALIA section travels today to the Italian Ultra Championship, organized by its Athletics Federation.

The event at Cantalupo Ligure had the 72k as the queen race which was won by Andreas Reiterer and Camille Bruyas. During the weekend there were also other distance races: LE FINISTRE DI PIETRA 37k which crowned Davide Magnini and Julie Roux. Reiterer and Turini have earned a ticket for the 2021 World Mountain and Trail.

PORTE DI PIETRA 2021 (72K/D+4.400M)

ITALIAN ULTRA TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Almost 1,100 athletes took part over three distances, organised by Cantalupo Ligure with volunteers from the ASD Gli Orsi and ASO Bio Correndo Avis. In the main event – 72km with 4,400 metres climbing – victory went to Andreas Reiterer and Camille Bruyas, with Italian National Champion titles going to Andreas Reiterer and Giuditta Turini. Over the 37 km “Finestre” distance with 2,000 metres of climbing, Davide Magnini and Julie Roux proved the strongest in the high-calibre field.

PORTE DI PIETRA 2021. RACE CHRONICLE.

Adhering strictly to Covid regulations, 500 athletes lined up at 7 am for the singular Italian Long Distance Trail National Championship, under the stringent supervision of volunteers from ASD Gli Orsi and ASD Bio Correndo Avis. The competition was fierce, with not just the title up for grabs, but also a call-up for the Trail World Championships in November on the cards, and a wealthy of elite international athletes hungry to compete at this high-level race. Taking place in a mountain range on the border of Piedmont and Liguria, the route of this particular race stands out from the rest with its concept of looping in all of the peaks in Val Borbera.

The pace was hot as soon as the gun went, with a group that tore away from the main field on the first key climb to the Croce degli Alpini. Current Italian Champion Andreas Reiterer took the lead ahead of tight chasing group consisting of Riccardo Borgialli, Gil Pintarelli and Francesco Cuccio. As the women reached Roccaforte, American Katie Schide and Frenchwoman Camille Bruyas had managed to gap Martina Valmassoi from the region of Veneto, and this trio had a healthy lead over the rest of the field.

As the kilometres ticked by, Reiterer stretched out a convincing lead over the chasers who’d now been joined by Val d’Aosta’s Davide Cheraz, while Camille Bruyas kept forcing the pace in the women’s field in a bid to cement a lead over Julia Kessler and Martina Valmassoi.

By 50 km, Reiterer’s lead amounted to 13’ over Cheraz and 14’ over the duo of Pintarelli–Borgialli, who were now being chased down by the indefatigable Portuguese athlete Andre Rodrigues, who clearly wanted to podium. The women’s placings remained constant at this point.

Reiterer continued to tick off the kilometres smoothly and crossed the finish line in Cantalupo Ligure with a record-beating time of 6h42’44” to claim the National title. The surprise of the day was second place, which went to Portugal’s Andre Rodrigues in 6h58’09”, with Davide Cheraz in third. Gil Pintarelli finished in 7h05’10” to take fourth overall and third in the National rankings, while fifth went to Riccardo Borgialli in 7h05’25” who also took home the title of Piedmont Trail Champion.

There was a standing ovation for France’s Camille Bruyas as she took the win in 7h38’08” ahead of Katie Schide from the USA in 8h12’00”. Third place and the honour of being crowned National Champion went to Giuditta Turini from Val d’Aosta in 8h28’10” whose effort in the final kilometre to overtake Martina Valmassoi clearly paid off. This was Turini’s second consecutive national title, and she was joined on the tricolore podium by Martina Valmassoi (8h30’02” and Moira Guirini (8h49’00”).

PHOTO GALLERY BY MAURI TORRI

FINESTRE DI PIETRA (37K/D+2.000M)

VICTORY FORJULIE ROUX & DAVIDE MAGNINI

Julie Roux and Davide Magnini were the strongest on the day in the high-calibre Finestre di Pietra, which measured 37 km with 2,000 metres of climbing. As the second round of the Golden National Series by Salomon, it’d be doing this particular event a disservice to call it the side-dish to the 72 km race and it arguably attracted an elite field of trail running hitters from Italy and beyond as well as some of the world’s top ski mountaineers.

The 370 athletes in the 37km Finestre got a taste of the same landscape as those who were competing in the main event for the honour of being crowned Italian Long Distance Trail Champion. Both routes headed through the centre of the town, over the wooden bridge of the Pertuso, climbed to the Croce degli Alpini and followed the same arrows until reaching the Porte di Pietra at 23 km. From here onwards, the Finestre shed some of its technical nature to turn quicker and smoother underfoot.

Davide Magnini from the Italian region of Trento led from start to finish, covering the 37 km in 2h59’06” ahead of France’s Theo Detienne in 3h02’12” and Thibaut Baronian, 3h05’13”. Fourth and fifth went to Julien Michelon and Kevin Vermeulen, also from France.

The strong French presence spilled over into the women’s race as well with Julie Roux finishing in 3h45’13” ahead of the ever-present Elisa Desco 3h36’36” in second and Belgium’s Charlotte Moerman in 4h06’48”

FULL RESULTS