Victories at the Dolomitenlauf Classicrace go to France and Austria
Perfect sunny winter weather supported the Worldloppet skiers from 26 nations today in Obertilliach, the venue of the Dolomitenlauf. At 10:00 today morning the skiers started the Dolomitenlauf Classic race over 42 km – which counts as Worldloppet gold race – and 20 km (silver status).
1st France, 2nd Germany, 3rd Austria
Pretty soon in the race, four skiers built the leading group and worked together for a long time. The Frenchman Damien Tarantola and the German Thomas Freimuth got company from two Austrian skiers: Martin Sutter and Martin Mesotitsch. Until the end of the race those four kept a high pace until Tarantola tried his luck on his own and attacked the group on the last kilometers. This attack was successful and the member of Haute-Savoie Nordic Team won the Classicrace with a lead of 1:24 in front of Thomas Freimuth. The best Austrian, Martin Suttner, jumped on the podium and saved the 3rd place only 3 seconds behind number 2. “Not a bad balance for me here in Obertilliach. First start, first victory!”, sums Tarantola up only in a few words.
(Tarantola winning the Dolomitnlauf Classicrace 2017. c: Expa-Gru)
Ladies victory stays in Austria
The first place in the lady’s competition stays in Austria: Magdalena Maierhofer was a class of her own today. Incredible 20 minutes faster than Marit Brondbo from Norway she won the Dolomiten Classicrace. “With this weather and my perfectly prepared skies it was unbelievable to ski today!”, says Maierhofer. The third place goes to Estonia, to Tiiu Jüriado.
Another remarkable result achieved the adidas XCS team from Germany in the 20-km-competition. Max Olex, Toni Escher and Manuel Sieber can celebrate a triple-victory.
(Expa-GRU)
FIS Worldloppet Cup 2017 kicks off tomorrow
So the big dominating teams of last season, Team Gel Interim Rossignol and Haute-Savoie Nordic Team definitely got another strong opponent, because the three Germans will also participate tomorrow at the skating competition, which is the first stage of the FIS Worldloppet Cup 2017 (originally the second, but La Foulee Blanche had to be cancelled). But the biggest favorites are still the French skiers like Bastien Porrier, who won the Dolomitenlauf last year and finished the FIS Worldloppet Cup as second. He will replace Toni Livers (SUI) with wearing the red bib, since Livers got recruited from the Swiss national team for the Worldcup. Chauvet, Mougel, Bonaldi Perrillat will also fight for the victory.
The female starting field is stronger than it has been for a long time. Of course, Aurelie Dabudyk (FRA) from the Haute-Savoie NT is the biggest favorite since she dominated the cup last season and also won the Dolomitenlauf 2016. But with Tatjana Mannima (EST), former cup overall winner – who is returning from a baby break – and marathon skiing star from Switzerland, Seraina Boner, she gets very strong company. Also Klara Moravcova from Czech Republic will try to claim the victory.
Important Links:
Worldloppet and the Dolomitenlauf
FIS Worldloppet Cup stage 2: Dolomitenlauf – Startlist
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