Adamello Ski Raid to the French Gachet and Bon Mardion

The Marseillaise resounds at the ninth edition of the Adamello Ski Raid, the ski mountaineering competition valid as the second seasonal test of the international circuit «La Grande Course». The first to cross the finish line, after having faced a difference in altitude of 3,355 meters over a 40 km distance, including five climbs, five descents and four stretches on foot, were the two tried and tested French companions Xavier Gachet and William Bon Mardion, who stopped the clock at 4 hours 07’ 57”, while in the women’s field, Italy won, thanks to Giulia Compagnoni from Valtellina and Lisa Moreschini from Trentino (4 hours 04’ 07” on a shorter route). Second place in the men's race for the Italians William Boffelli, from Roncobello in Bergamo, and Alex Oberbacher, from Ortisei in Gardena at 4'32", so on the third step of the podium we find another transalpine team, the one composed of Samuel Equy and Anselme Damevin, with a delay of 12'40".

A challenge at altitude that became exciting already in the first stretch of the race, traced in the Pontedilegno - Tonale ski area up to the 2,990 meters of altitude of Passo Presena, where three couples arrived paired, namely the four transalpines Samuel Equy with Anselme Damevin and Xavier Gachet with William Bon Mardion, with the Italians William Boffelli and Alex Oberbacher in tow. The podium positions crystallized in the second climb towards the 3,190 meters of the Passo della Valletta, but above all on the climb towards Punta Venerocolo, the highest passage of the race with its 3,312 meters, when the experts Gachet and Bon Mardion increased the pace, detaching Boffelli and Oberbacher, who in turn were able to get rid of Equy and Damevin. The positions did not change even at the passage at the 3,307 meters of Cresta Croce and subsequently at the 2,996 meters of the Passo Tre Denti.

At the finish line in Ponte di Legno, therefore, Xavier Gachet arrived with his arms raised, at his second participation and his first victory at the Adamello Ski Raid, and for his teammate William Bon Mardion, who instead signed his third success, the first with Gachet, with whom they had instead arrived third in 2023
Only fourth were the two standard-bearers of the Centro Sportivo Esercito Matteo Eydallin and Robert Antonioli, even 17 minutes behind the winners of the day. The Piedmontese from Salice D’Ulzio unfortunately made a mistake on the route in the second descent, which proved fatal in the fight for the podium when they were fourth, losing precious minutes in recovering the lost ground. Together with their teammate from Valfurva, they gave it their all to recover, but the gap had unfortunately become significant. Excellent performance by the two twins from Valle d'Aosta, Jacques Lino and Didier Daio Chanoine, from La Salle, who finished in fifth place with a delay of 19'23", taking the satisfaction of preceding the highly rated pair formed by Federico Nicolini, from Molveno in Trentino, and Nadir Maguet, from Valle d'Aosta in Torgnon, who had a day that wasn't exactly positive from a physical point of view. The two were never in contention for the podium. Too bad.

France, on the other hand, placed nine athletes in the top ten between the men's and women's races, a testament to the charm of the event organized by the Adamello Ski Team, capable of attracting athletes from 16 nations among the 150 couples registered.

The women's competition, on the other hand, was without history with the twenty-eight-year-old Giulia Compagnoni from Valfurva in Valtellina and the twenty-three-year-old Lisa Moreschini from Trentino from Pejo immediately in the lead of the race, capable of increasing the advantage over their rivals kilometer after kilometer kilometer. A victory for the two Italians that represents a strong injection of confidence in a season that has seen them protagonists on several fronts. For Giulia it is the first victory on the original course, the second overall, as well as the third podium; for Lisa, however, it is the first laurel in an event that she feels particularly, because it is close to home. Second couple, with a delay of 26'29", is the one composed of Lorna Bonnel and Perrine Gindre, third the Czech Marcela Vasinova and the Austrian Bianca Somavilla at 40 minutes.

Instead, triumphing in the mixed category, again starting from Passo Paradiso, was the couple in the race and in life, residents of Ponte di Legno, composed of Corinna Ghirardi and Paolo Montemezzi, who stopped the clock on the performance of 4h26'43".
For the organizers, a day to remember, with extraordinary weather and snow conditions, a stimulus for the orange jackets to continue on their organizational path, which will see the return of the Adamello Ski Raid in 2027.