La Marcialonga 2013 avait fait le plein d'inscrits depuis longtemps et ils étaient plus de 7500 sur la ligne de départ à Moena. Parmi eux plusieurs milliers de Norvégiens et de Suédois venus en pélerinage comme chaque hiver.
Cette longue distance se déroule dans la région du Trentin et plus particulièrement dans un Val di Fiemme toujours au top et aux petits soins pour le ski nordique, en attendant les mondiaux ! Tous les détails ICI
Depuis le début de course, les frères Aukland se sont portés en tête de la course. Oubliant le poids des années, 37 ans pour Joergen et 40 ans pour Anders, ils entendaient bien montrer aux "jeunes" qu'ils restaient encore souvent les patrons sur ce type de course, longue distance en classique.
35 fondeurs étaient encore regroupés au km 60, parmi eux on retrouvait aussi Pietro Piller Cottrer qui a malheureusement du abandonné en raison d'une chute et d'une blessure au genou.
Tout s'est finalement joué dans la "Terrific Cascata", une grosse bosse située à seulement 2km de la ligne d'arrivée à Cavalese. Et là après 68km d'effort ça fait mal ! Joergen Aukland, en spécialiste, a mis en route la machine au pied de la bosse avant de faire complètement exploser le groupe.
Le fondeur du Team X'Tra Personnel filera alors en vainqueur vers la ligne d'arrivée et conservera son titre acquis l'an passé. Chapeau ! Il devance ses coéquipiers Rezac, Anders Aukland, et le Suédois Ahrlin, tous les quatre issus du même Team. Un vrai triomphe pour les hommes en vert !
Sur la course féminine la Suissesse Seraina Boner n'a pas laissé de place au suspense. La fondeuse du Team Coop a pris les commandes dès le départ, laissant toutes ses rivales skier derrière elle durant les 70km du parcours.
Boner, en toute grande forme, s'offre une sacré belle victoire et semble bien partie pour réaliser un carton cet hiver sur les longues. On la suivra, comme tous les autres protagonistes de cette Marcialonga la semaine prochaine sur la König Ludwig Lauf.
Les réactions :
Joergen Aukland (NOR): " It was a really, really hard race today! Once again! And I am so very happy that I was able to gain the highest podium place in this 40th edition of Marcialonga. It's on of my favourite races and since I am best in double poling – and this race is one of those in which you need to be very good in double poling – the Marcialonga is one of my season highlights. Therefore I am very satisfied that it worked out again with the victory. We tried to break up the group already in the beginning with our team, but due to the very slow conditions at the start, it didn't work out. So we were still around 30 racers at the bottom of “la cascata”. I placed myself in the front of the group and tried to stay out of trouble most of the way and I then attacked at the climb. It worked very well, however, I knew that Stanislav was not fare away so I had to push hard until the end. I was not sure of my victory until I saw the finish line! But then I was just happy to have done it again!"
Stanislav Rezac (CZE): "For this race you really need to be good in double poling – every year it gets more important. I still have to do a lot of work in this area. I tried to stay with Joergen in the last uphill, but he was just too strong. I knew that Anders and Jerry were not far behind me so I really pushed hard to ensure the second place. I am very happy that it worked out!"
Anders Aukland (NOR): "I am just really really happy with this third place today! It was a very hard race today and in the final climb I had a very serious fight with Jerry for the third place. I wasn't sure if I would be able to win so I simply pushed hard. It was a complete different race this year, in comparison to last year, where our team was able to limit the size of the first group by pushing very hard in the beginning. So this time, we all just tried to make sure that we would stay out of trouble. The “real race” then just started in Molina and in the final uphill.
I know Val di Fiemme very well, and yes, I guess I would be able to start in the 50km race during the World Championships, but I focused this year completely on long distance skiing and the preparation is a bit different from the one you do for World Cups."
Seraina Boner (SUI): "I really love this race! It's a great course, in a great scenery with the passages through all the villages and today was just another perfect day for me! I decided to go a hard pace already in the beginning because I knew that my advantage is in the uphills so I had to play this card already in the beginning to gain a lot of space between me and the other girls. It was a hard race since I also had to ski alone for quite a while, but when I came to the final climb and realised that I had quite a large advantage, I knew that I didn't have to push me to the extreme limit to get up “la cascata” in order to win. My grip was not perfect so I tried to double pole most of the last uphill. This victory is very important for me since the Marcialonga is always a season highlight for me. To be in the leader bib of the FIS Marathon Cup now is like the cherry on the cake!"
Photos : Nordic Focus
