The Ski Classics Challengers circuit event started from Toblach, Nygaard (NOR) and Börjesjö (SWE) won the 31 km in classic technique.
OC Toblach-Cortina Ski-marathon celebrates the opening under the snow, big party at the finish of Fiames-Cortina d’Ampezzo, tomorrow the 31 km FT.
An old-fashioned spectacle! Perhaps this is how one can describe what was seen on the opening day of the 48th Toblach-Cortina Ski-marathon. The 31-kilometre course, with the start in the Nordic Arena in Toblach, passed through the most fascinating places in Hochpustertal and Ampezzo, as well as through the tunnels of the former Dolomite railway: a spectacle made even more impressive by the snowfall. The snowfall had been falling since the hours before the 10 o’clock start and had whitened the trees and surroundings, but also made the course very hard, which in the end crowned Andreas Nygaard (NOR) and Malin Börjesjö (SWE) as winners.
A slow pace characterised the men’s race, given the heavy snowfall in Hochpustertal and especially in the Ampezzo region. When the snow is slow and sloppy, the ideal habitat of the cross-country skier is… the wake of another cross-country skier. The only Swede Ekloef (6th) tried to make a difference on the hard, near the Three Peaks National Park, but failed to get away. A group of 19 athletes then formed with all the best skiers. At the pass at Passo Cimabanche 13 of them managed to dig a small gap of 12” on the pursuers. They then faced the downhill stretch towards the finish line in Fiames, where some athletes managed to pull back, thanks to the very slow snow found by the outriders. The final solution could only be the sprint, where Andreas Nygaard again showed all his strength. The fresh Marcialonga champion crossed the finish ahead of everyone, winning the sprint over Francesco Ferrari and the Finnish Lauri Lepistö, who preceded the Italian favourite Dietmar Noeckler at the photo finish.
A lot of selection was made in the women’s race, which saw, after the first 3 km section, already six athletes taking the lead. The Swedish Börjesjö made things clear on the slightly uphill sections, thanks also to her excellent equipment, as she admitted at the end of the race. Arriving at the Cimabanche Pass (21st km), Börjesjö had a 34-second margin over the closest pursuer Oda Nerdrum (NOR). At that point, with only 10 km downhill to go and in the company of male athletes, it was done for the Swede. The defending champion Heli Heiskanen (FIN), in the company of Anna Schmidhofer (AUT), narrowly missed out on the Norwegian Nerdrum, who nevertheless defended her place of honour.
Awaiting all ‘finishers’, those who made their way along the Lake of Toblach, the War Cemetery, Landro, Valfonda and Cimabanche and then into the galleries towards Fiames, were the metal medals with personalised high-relief.
The organising committee led by Herbert Santer said to be delighted with the setting, which was made even more beautiful by the snow. A big applause also goes to the many volunteers from Toblach and Cortina, who have been working for weeks to ensure the success of one of the most popular races of the circuit.
Tomorrow, however, it will still be track time with another 31 km to run, this time in free technique. The course is the same as today: appointment at 10:00 a.m. with the start from the Nordic Arena.