A few kilometers from Santa Maria di Leuca, in the municipality of Gagliano del Capo, the breathtakingly beautiful Salento cliffs will once again become the protagonists of the toughest mountain race. Next June 15th and 16th, on the occasion of the thirteenth edition of the Ciolo Trophy, famous for having been the venue in recent years of international competitions such as a Youth Cup, a World Cup, a Masters World Cup and several editions of the Italian championship between absolute relays, youth and masters, will host the Italian Mountain Running Championship under the aegis of FIDAL and will decide the Italian champions of the discipline for the Overall, Junior and Master Relay categories, attracting the best and most important Italian teams. The Ciolo Trophy will also be a valid race for the WMRA and will bring together a group of renowned international athletes to earn points in the world ranking of the Mountain Running World Cup.
The athletes competing
The obligatory favorites for the women are the champions of La Recastello, with the absolute Italian champion Vivien Bonzi, the most complete and competitive Italian at the moment, and the neo-Italian absolute fresh from her debut in Annecy Beatrice Bianchi, a formidable downhill skier. The Italian teammate and captain Alice Gaggi could be a “luxury reserve” on this occasion and support a young black-green teammate. Atletica Saluzzo and Orecchiella Garfagnana remain the most fearsome contenders and among the possible names of the athletes competing (two-element relays) we find Martina Bilora, Cecilia Basso, Camilla Magliano, Martina Cumerlato, Giulia Pol, Arianna Dentis, Matilde Bonino. Outsiders are Alessia Scaini’s Atletica Valchiese and Coach Ladurner’s Sportclub Merano.
For the men’s race there will be three-element relays: net of the surprise of a possible recovery of Luca Merli, Atletica Valchiese, with Alberto Vender and Marco Filosi fixed points, is bidding for a step on the podium. For Gold, the closest battle will realistically be between Valli Bergamasche Leffe, which boasts a wide choice of champions from Cesare Maestri to Xavier Chevrier, passing through Hannes Perkmann, Luca and Lorenzo Cagnati, Luca Cantoni, and even the Gazzaniga Team , La Recastello, where president Luciano Merla can field at least two competitive teams, choosing between Isacco Costa, Andrea Elia, Luciano Rota, Fabio Ruga, Francesco Bongio. The Junior and Master team competitions will also be exciting on the paths of Gagliano del Capo.
To make the Ciolo Trophy more attractive from a sporting point of view every year, the organizers always push for a touch of internationality through the participation of foreign teams or representatives focused on competing for the Ciolo Trophy alone. The invitation brought to the European Off Road Championships in Annecy in France to the major reference athletes and the possibility of earning points in the WMRA ranking will raise the experiential and competitive level of the race for all participants.
Open Individual Race
In addition to the team competitions and the WMRA, this year the Ciolo Trophy will also include an individual Open Race, open to all trail running enthusiasts, which will allow you to compete side by side with the big Italian and world names in the specialty and experience the amplified emotion. The race will take place on a single lap of the race route, offering the opportunity to compete on a technical and fascinating track and will be valid as the fourth round of the provincial individual and club trail & mountain running championships.
2024-11-06 00:00:00
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