2012 FIS MARATHON CUP MOVES TO ITALY

Third leg scheduled next Sunday in Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa (Italy)

Northug, Aukland, Svartedal, Shevchenko, Svendsen and Santus ready for 2012 Marcialonga

About 7.200 participants from all over the world ready at the start

12 TV channels broadcasting live coverage and highlights of the race

 

 

The FIS Marathon Cup was born in 1999-2000 season and, as the official Worldloppet website reads, the main goals of the series have always been ‘to improve the status of long distance competitions by attracting elite racers and to increase media and spectator interest in long distance racing.’ At a first glance, Italy’s Marcialonga is about to hit all these spots once again next Sunday, with 7.200 skiers all geared up ready to ride the 70k long course in Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa.

The Italian ski-marathon at the foot of Dolomites is the third leg of the 2012 Cup, after Jizerská Padesátka in Czech Republic and Austrian Dolomitenlauf. The first one in classic technique took place at the beginning of January and was dominated by local hero Stanislav Rezac, whilst Norway’s Sara Svendsen won the ladies’ race. Last Sunday, the FIS Marathon Cup was hosted in the beautiful town of Obertilliach (Austria) and the winners of the 2012 Dolomitenlauf FT event were Fabio Santus of Italy and Valentina Shevchenko of Ukraine. The Italian won a nail-biting finish against the Belarusian Ivanou and seized the overall leadership of the Cup, 4 points ahead of Rezac. So did Shevchenko who now shares the first step of the provisional podium with Svendsen. The 2009 and 2010 FIS Marathon Cup winner Jenny Hansson of Sweden follows in third position.

Since 1999, Marcialonga has always been part of the FIS Marathon Cup except in 2004 when the Italian long-distance XC ski race was included in the World Cup calendar. This year’s Marcialonga will be welcoming cross-country superstar Petter Northug jr. who will make his debut in Italy’s ski-marathon and would better watch out for the long distance specialists such as countrymen Svartedal and Anders and Jörgen Aukland, Sweden’s Ahrlin, Brink, Svärd, Fredriksson, Johnsson and Tynell, Czech Rezac and Koukal, Toni Livers of Switzerland, and Italy’s Santus, Carrara, Cattaneo and Zorzi, among the many. On the ladies’ side, Shevchenko will be battling it out against Svendsen first of all, but Sweden’s Jenny and Sandra Hansson, Susanne Nyström and Nina Linzen, last year’s winner and silver medallist at last Sunday’s Dolomitenlauf Seraina Boner of Switzerland, and Italy’s Antonella Confortola and Sabina Valbusa will show up all guns blazing. Some other XC champions will be at the start of the 39^th Marcialonga, namely Katerina Neumannova, Espen Bjervig and Magda Genuin.

The Marcialonga track looks in perfect condition and temperatures below zero keep the snow hard, even though weather forecasts speak about light snowfalls during the weekend in northern Italy. Athletes and ski men are warned and it won’t be easy to find the right wax and preparation.

The 2012 Marcialonga will be broadcast on 12 TV channels, live on Rai Sport2 (Italy), SVT (Sweden), TV2 (Norway), Czech TV (Czech Republic), TV2 Sport (Denmark), Nova Greece (Greece), MTV3 (Finland), SPTV Croatia (Croatia) e DIGI Sport Hungary (Hungary), and the highlights of the race will reach Mexico, Canada and Kazakhstan too.

The Marcialonga opening ceremony is taking place in the village of Daiano on Saturday 28 January at 6pm.

Info: www.marcialonga.it

 

FIS MARATHON CUP – provisional ranking after 2 races:

 

Men
1	SANTUS Fabio	ITA	104
2	REZAC Stanislav	CZE	100
3	JOHNSSON Jimmie	SWE	80
3	IVANOU Aliaksei	BLR	80
5	LIVERS Toni	SUI	76
Women
1	SHEVCHENKO Valentina	UKR	100
1	SVENDSEN Sara	NOR	100
3	HANSSON Jenny	SWE	92
4	SANTER Stephanie	ITA	86
5	CONFORTOLA W. Antonella	ITA	85