Pellegrino and the closing with a 50 km tricolor after the Sprint; 30 km women to Caterina Ganz

The Absolute Italian Cross-Country Skiing Championships ended in Dobbiaco: final sprint for both distance races, with De Fabiani and Scardoni in second place. The results of the youth tests.

Monday 4 April 2022 8 minutes reading time

An Italian championship with many shades in Dobbiaco: clouds, rain, snow and, on Sunday for the grand finale, sun and blue skies. The Nordic Arena dressed up for the queen race of the cross-country skiing tricolors, the 50 km and 30 km classic technique for seniors and with shorter distances for young people. It was also the day of the farewells, already anticipated by the way, that of Elisa Brocard (CS Army) and the carabinieri Mirco Bertolina and Paolo Fanton. With the sun also a lot of public arrived, after all an authentic catwalk of title contenders was announced, with 10 laps for the males on the 5 km “Nathalie” track and 6 for the girls. Big group with all the best to command the scene in a very fast race, as usual, then in the final Federico Pellegrino (FFOO) gave a break and Francesco De Fabiani (Army) could not help but suffer the sprint of his friend and training partner. Only a second to divide the two top athletes of the Italian national team, with Dietmar Noeckler (FFOO) in control of the situation and in poor physical condition to defend the podium from Giandomenico Salvadori (FFGG) in recovery. Among the women immediately in charge, a quartet was formed with Martina Di Centa, Lucia Scardoni, Caterina Ganz and Martina Bellini, good at detaching all the others. Halfway through the race, the two financiers Ganz and Scardoni gave clear indications on their respective intentions. In the final Martina Bellini slightly lost contact when Ganz and Scardoni decided to compete for a gold that is worth more than a victory; the Fassana (Ganz) had the winning spin on the home straight with the Veronese (Scardoni) second by a whisker (2 ”2). Martina Di Centa enjoys the bronze, but above all the Under 23 gold, like Davide Graz (FFGG) eighth among the seniors. Immediately after the seniors, the U20s engaged in the 30 km race took off. Elia Barp and Andrea Zorzi of the Fiamme Gialle and Mauro Balmetti (FFOO) proved to be a step above their opponents. The race started immediately with a great pace and in the middle of the six laps the trio broke away from the rest of the group. The falcadino Barp faces the last climb before the arrival with a really frightening progression, a sign that he had left some reserves for the final. The new Italian mass start champion is therefore Barp, while Balmetti is positioned at 4 ”2 and third is a satisfied Zorzi. 20 km and 4 laps of the Nathalie track for the U20s, where a small group of Elisa Gallo, Denise Dedei, Veronica Silvestri, Nadine Laurent and Lucia Isonni were immediately formed. On the third lap Laurent from Valle d'Aosta and Isonni from Bergamo lose contact, so Gallo together with Dedei and Silvestri gritted their teeth and presented themselves at the finish in order; 20 km also for the U18-U16 category, a wild Gabriele Matli leads the race immediately followed by a brilliant Davide Ghio and Gabriele Rigaudo, who joins the two. Already on the second lap Ghio and Rigaudo find themselves alone at the head of the group and finally Ghio proves to be the strongest at the finish line, thus becoming Italian champion. Silver for Matli, while Davide Negroni is going to get the bronze. The queen among the U18s was Iris De Martin Pinter (Carabinieri). With great tenacity she set up a tough race from the very beginning, she won her title almost hands down, displacing all her opponents. The Aosta Valley Beatrice Laurent has to settle for silver, while Maria Gismondi completes the podium. Finally, the U16 category races were staged, valid for the Italian Cup. The victory went to the son of art Federico Pozzi, who abandoned his opponents on the first lap, while Marco Pinzani and Luca Ferrari tried to close the gap. Nothing to do, the games ended with the positions unchanged until the finish. The last women's race saw the success of the thirty of Ziano Anastasia Morandini, who remains with the South Tyrolean Marie Schwitzer until halfway through the lap. Then on the last climb Morandini detaches and flies towards the finish line with his arms raised, then second Schwitzer and Nayeli Mariotti Cavagnet to complete the podium. At the end of the day the curtain fell not only on the Absolute Italian Championships, but also on an entire season. The organizers of Dobbiaco, satisfied with the positive outcome, were definitely tired, but the many compliments received from athletes and technicians were an important gratification.

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