MARCIALONGA'S COUNTDOWN CLOSE TO THE END

Official press conference held in Trento (Italy) yesterday
Last details unveiled for the 38th edition of the ski marathon
Several big names among the 7.200 registered athletes
Side events on Saturday and Sunday: Mini Marcialonga, Marcialonga Young and Marcialonga Stars

 

Four days to the start. Italy’s Marcialonga di Fiemme e Fassa gets ready to celebrate a new sensational chapter on Sunday 30 January.

The 70 km long track from Moena to Cavalese is now in perfect condition, claimed Marcialonga’s President Alfredo Weiss at the official press conference held in Trento yesterday. Thanks to the 100.000 cubic meters of snow produced in the last weeks, Sunday’s race will be a fantastic event for the 7.200 athletes expected at the start, representing 33 nations.

Many ski lovers and amateur competitors – the so-called ‘Bisons’ – will be racing on Sunday, side by side with Olympic and World Cup champions.

Among them, Sweden’s Fredriksson, Lind, Brink, Svärd, Ahrlin and Hansson, Norway’s Alsgaard, Svartedal and Aukland, Switzerland’s Livers and Mischol, and Rezac and Jakoubek from Czech Republic. Italy will be betting on the 2011 FIS Marathon Cup leader Fabio Santus, and his countrymen Marco Cattaneo, Bruno Debertolis and Nicola Morandini. Italy’s Marcialonga is the fourth leg of the 2011 FIS Marathon Cup, after La Sgambeda (Italy), Jiserská Padesátka (CZE) and last Sunday’s Dolomitenlauf (AUT).

During the press conference, former ‘azzurra’ Guidina Dal Sasso unveiled the new winners’ floral wreath made with camellias from Lake Maggiore, in Piemonte region. These type of flowers were the official flowers of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The start of the 38th Marcialonga will be in Moena on Sunday at 8.15 am, while the firsts are expected to cross the finish in Cavalese after three hours. The national RAI will broadcast the event live on Rai Sport channel from 9.30 am to 12,00 pm, together with 6 other national channels around the globe.

The Marcialonga Stars race with famous personalities and the MiniMarcialonga competition for kids and youngsters will take place on Saturday afternoon at the XC ski stadium in Lago di Tesero. In Lago di Tesero the new Marcialonga Young race for young categories is scheduled on Sunday morning.

Info: www.marcialonga.it