Près de 2000 fondeuses étaient inscrites pour ce 43e Marathon de l'Engadin, disputé au milieu des lacs et des forêts Grisonnes, le tout en skating.
Un style qui convient parfaitement aux qualités de la Finlandaise Riita-Lisa Roponen venu cet hiver goûter aux joies des longues distances.
Roponen s'impose en solitaire avec un chrono final de 1'29"52. Elle devance la Suissesse Seraina Boner, vainqueur de la Marcialonga et deuxième de la Vasa, de 2min12 sec. Anouk Faivre-Picon complète ce beau podium à 2min32.
La Suissesse Rahel Imoberdorf prend une jolie 4e place à 3min40 devant la seconde Française Célia Bourgeois, 5e à 3min57.
Marine Dewaeale se classe 17e et Iris Pessey 22e.
Les réactions :
Riitta Liisa Roponen (FIN):
I felt really good today and as I only did three races in the World Championships, I wasn't tired at all. I got told before that it will be crowded in the beginning, but I was still surprised how crowded it got. My plan was to follow the men as long as possible and that was what I did and it worked well. I knew the Engadin already from three weeks of training in summer and I really like it here.
Seraina Boner (SUI):
"I felt very good today, but until St. Moritz it was pretty hectic and it wasn't much fun to race. In reality, I could only go as fast as I wanted to during the last five kilometres. I could then catch Anouk and knew that I would be able to finish second. I am really happy with this result. Maybe I should have tried to get behind Roponen straight from the beginning, but it didn't work out. But she was also very strong today."
Anouk Faivre-Picon (FRA):
"After my victory last year, I hoped of course to do it again. But after a lot of World Cup races and the World Championships in my legs I didn't feel fresh enough to really fight with Riitta-Liisa and Seraina in the end. So I am very happy that I could get onto the podium. The Engadin is a really great race and it's always fun to ski here!"
Photos : Nordic Focus