OLLA DE NÚRIA 2021: GOLDEN TRAIL SERIES AT ITS BEST. MAUDE MATHYS AND STIAN ARGEMUND  RECORD VICTORIES.

Posted by Héctor Rubio on June 14, 2021 in golden trail series, golden trail world series, trail running spain | 4 Comments

OLLA DE NÚRIA 2021: GOLDEN TRAIL SERIES AT ITS BEST. The first GTWS race of the 2021 series has finally started! And the Elite are chomping at the bit!Today our GOLDEN TRAIL WORLD SERIES bring us today the beginning of the Golden Trail World Series.

After the 2020 modified season, the Golden Trail World Series was back this Sunday 13^th June 2021, for the first race of the season on the Olla de Nuria trail in the Spanish Pyrenees, which replaced Zegama. A first event that set the standards very high for the rest of the season with a stacked line-up at the start and exceptional intensive racing at over 2,000m above sea level.

Starting line at Olla Nuria 2021. Photo TV3

OLLA DE NÚRIA 2021.

MAUDE MATHYS AND STIAN ARGEMUND  RECORD VICTORIES.

Vall de Nuria, 8:50 am

The early morning silence has now been replaced by the usual pre-race-start excitement. The Olla de Nuria will set off in 10 minutes, a technical route with more than 70% of the trails over 2,700 metres above sea level, it’s the first time this race has been in the Golden Trail World Series – to replace Zegama’s cancellation.

A rarely seen top-ranking men’s line-up: Davide Magnini (Team Salomon, Italy), Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon, Switzerland), Nadir Maguet (Team La Sportiva, Italy), Bartlomiej Przedwojewski (Team Salomon, Poland), Stian Angermund (Team Salomon, Norway), Nicolas Martin (Team Hoka One One, France), Thibaut Baronian (Team Salomon, France)… the list goes on and on making the prognostics incredibly difficult.

The women’s line-up also granted little certainty: Maude Mathys (Team Salomon, Switzerland), overall winner of the Golden Trail Championship in the Azores in 2020, is drawing the most attention. But alongside her are women such as Blandine L’Hirondel (Team Hoka One One, France), Judith Wyder (Team Salomon, Switzerland), Rachel Drake (Team Nike Trail, USA), Denisa Dragomir (Team Red Bull/Merrell, Romania), Oihana Kortazar (Team Salomon, Spain) and Mathilde Sagnes (Team Hoka One One, France), could also make their mark on today’s race route: 21.5km and 1,940 m V+ and up above an altitude of more than 2000 metres.

Stian Boss-man

We expected an intense battle between Rémi Bonnet and Davide Magnini in the long uphill that led the runners to the highest point of the race (5km and 1,000m vert+ to the top). In the end, it was the Swiss who took a 25-second lead in front of the Norwegian Stian Angermund who joined the battle. From then on, the two men scorched the trail in tandem along the long ridge at over 2,700 metres high, combining technical descents and radical steep climbs. If for a long time we thought we would need to wait for the final downhill to see the outcome of this thrilling dual, a sudden fall by Rémi Bonnet enabled Stian to career forward and leave only dust in his wake.

The Norwegian from Team Salomon crossed the line in an astounding 2h04 almost one minute in front of the Swiss who gritted his teeth to finish the race with a nasty deep cut on his arm and shock to his chest. “It’s incredible to see all this energy” Stian Angermund gleamed at the finish line. “We’ve been waiting for this for so long! Just finishing a race with a crowd would’ve been enough to make me happy. But it’s true I felt good today, I felt that I was in good shape in training, but it’s hard to gauge yourself when you haven’t run with anyone else for such a long time. Anyway, I am really happy with this victory.“

Rémi Bonnet was also satisfied with this first race, even if he would’ve liked to have continued the battle with his teammate longer. “We were both doing great. I did a monstruous climb, then I followed him across the ridgeline. He’s a downhill demon and I tried to keep up with him in the downhill sections… Then I fell down hard just before the final climb. I thought I was going to quit, it cut open my arm and I was winded by the shock to the chest and I couldn’t breathe properly. I stopped for 30 seconds and then took off again. Stian took the opportunity to accelerate, but I would have done the same“, he laughed. Davide Magnini on the other hand was not all smiles… “It was not a great day for me, I am very disappointed. I was really hoping to do better than third, but I just never got the power in my legs! I wasn’t in the groove, I had no spring. I spent the entire race fighting with myself to get on the podium, but I’m going to have to do a hell of a lot better in the races to come.”

Untouchable Maude Mathys

In the women’s field, there was no surprise to see the Swiss Maude Mathys dominate the race from start to finish. On her own from the first climb, she just continued increasing the lead gap over her pursuers. “I raced the first climb very fast because I was afraid for the technical parts on the ridgeline and the downhill sections, she explains. But afterwards I had no idea what the gaps between us were, and I was really stressed to have the girls catch me up. I was also suffering from the altitude but when I saw that the guys weren’t going any faster it reassured me.” She would finish almost 12 minutes in front of her pursuers.

Behind her, several women were wrapped in a merciless dual for the podium. Among them, Judith Wyder would finish by grabbing second position thanks to her storming effort in the last climb and huge downhill. “For me it’s a massive personal victory today, she said through tears at the finish. I’m just back from my second pregnancy and had to train immensely hard to get back up to this level. I had no idea what level I could reach. Maude is in another galaxy, and I will need to train even harder to get back to my best level, but today I just want to savour this result, which means so much to me.” Behind, Oihana Kortazar was the big shot of the day finishing in third position in this very tough race. “It’s a huge surprise! I had absolutely no idea I would end up here today! she says. I told myself before the start that a top 5 would already be an excellent result. But to grab a podium spot? Unthinkable! When you look at the Azores, I was always way behind girls like Rachel or Blandine… Honestly, it’s amazing, and I’m very happy!“

See you in Chamonix (France), on 4^th July for the Marathon du Mont-Blanc, the second stage of the Golden Trail World Series 2021.

Final Ranking

Men

1 – STIAN ANGERMUND (NOR – SALOMON): 02:04:16 (+100 pts)

2 – RÉMI BONNET (CHE – SALOMON): 02:05:48 (+88 pts)

3 – DAVIDE MAGNINI (ITA – SALOMON): 02:06:05 (+78 pts)

4 – NADIR MAGUET (ITA – LA SPORTIVA): 02:08:27 (+72 pts)

5 – THIBAUT BARONIAN (FRA – SALOMON): 02:08 :27 (+68 pts)

Women

1 – MAUDE MATHYS (CHE – SALOMON): 02:21:52 (+100 pts)

2 – JUDITH WYDER (CHE – SALOMON): 02:34:24 (+ 88 pts)

3 – OIHANA KORTAZAR (ESP – SALOMON): 02:35:35 (+ 78 pts)

4 – BLANDINE L’HIRONDEL (FRA – HOKA ONE ONE): 02:37:44 (+72 pts)

5 – ELISE PONCET (FRA – TEAM MATRYX): 02:39:03 (+68 pts)

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