Here we are: 250 athletes from 15 nations competed on Saturday
The eighth edition of the Adamello Ski Raid takes shape, scheduled for Saturday 25 March and valid as a long distance team world championship and as a test of the La Grande Course international circuit.
While the organizers are making the high-altitude race track safe, under the direction of the mountain guide Guido Salvetti and the course manager Mario Sterli, the first important confirmations arrive regarding the teams at the start in the hunt for the world title.
The three Italian teams aiming for victory will be made up of reigning world champions Matteo Eydallin, from Piedmont from Salice d'Ulzio, and Robert Antonioli, from Valtellina from Valfurva. Davide Magnini from Trentino from Vermiglio, who will have the same bib as the Aosta Valley from Torgnon Nadir Maguet, will try to snatch the scepter from him, so the third top blue team is made up of Trentino from Molveno Federico Nicolini paired with the South Tyrolean from Ortisei Alex Oberbacher. In a foreign key to keep an eye on the French couple formed by the winner of the last edition William Bon Mardion, who will be in the race with Xavier Gachet, then the other two transalpines Mathèo Jacquemod with his partner Samuel Equy. Also interesting is the Italian-Swiss duo formed by William Boffelli from Bergamo and Werner Marti and the Austro-Swiss duo with Jakob Hermann with Martin Anthamatten. Michele Boscacci will instead be stopped in the pits due to a flu attack.
In the women's field, the French Axelle Mollaret and Emily Harrop, fresh winners of the Pierra Menta, largely enjoy the favors of the forecast, as they have demonstrated on several occasions this season, including in the World Cup. The two blues Alba De Silvestro and Giulia Murada will try to give them a hard time. Among the other couples competing and fighting for the podium we find Giulia Compagnoni with Ilaria Veronese, the more experienced Elena Nicolini with Corinna Ghirardi and the French sisters Lena and Candice Bonnel.
The starting list is not yet definitive, given that registrations will close today. For now, 125 teams representing 15 nations appear in the entry list.
Returning to the race course, it will have a development of 30 km and 3,360 meters of positive altitude difference and 3,660 negative meters. The start, both for the men's and women's categories, will be positioned as in the previous editions in Tonalina and the passages at Passo Paradiso and Passo Presena, at the Mandrone refuge, the enchanting climb towards Punta Venerocolo at 3,323 meters highest point of the race and still the transits at Passo Lobbia, the suggestive Cresta Croce with the cannon of the Great War, the Passo dei Tre Denti, the Pisganino glacier and the final descent towards the center of Ponte di Legno.
As in past editions, the passage on the Presena glacier will take place in close contact with enthusiasts and the curious, for whom natural grandstands will be set up, giving them the opportunity to cheer on the passage of the many athletes. For the occasion there will be the possibility to go up to 3,000 meters with the cable cars which will be open free of charge from 5.30 to 7.00.
Given the championship validity, the Organizing Committee, thanks to the availability of the Pontedilegno-Tonale consortium and the territorial administrations, has also organized for 5 pm on Friday the parade of all the participating teams, each with the flag of their own nation, as well as a moment official dedicated to the representatives of the institutions.