Tor des Géants 330: the Swiss Jonas Russi as boss

It’s 8:31 a.m. this Wednesday on the Jardin de l’Ange in Courmayeur (Aosta Valley, Italy) when Jonas Russi crosses the end line. Leaving since Sunday morning and after 70h31’36’ of effort, the Swiss gives himself one of many longest and most demanding ultra-trails on the earth (330 km and 24,000 m of elevation achieve). ” Superb, I’ve no phrases”, he stated, exhausted however above all very moved, a couple of minutes after crossing the road.

Revenge on final yr

Leaving barely two weeks after his eighth place on the Extremely-Path du Mont-Blanc, Jonas Russi confirmed his extraordinary bodily qualities. Final yr, already, he had led the race on this Tor des Géants with Franco Collé, earlier than seeing the Italian give approach to him on the final descent to supply himself a prestigious victory in solo, with the file of the occasion as a bonus, in 66 hours and 43 minutes.

Current in the beginning, Collé this time retired round kilometer 50 when he was within the lead, sufferer of an harm to his Achilles tendon. However he didn’t hesitate to return then to help his rival, with whom he solid a powerful friendship on the alpine roads final yr, particularly by advising him on refueling. After a second place for his first participation and the third quickest time within the historical past of the occasion, Jonas Russi managed to clinch victory. He confronted excessive circumstances, mixing durations of rain and hail and infrequently freezing chilly.

A number of hours behind the Swiss, the Italian Simone Corsini, winner of the Gran Path Courmayeur in July and fifth within the final Tor des Géants, is on monitor to assert second place. However his compatriots Andrea Macchi and Andrea Mattiato are additionally within the combat for the rostrum. They nonetheless have about twenty kilometers to finish to cross the end line.

Within the girls’s class, after having led the race for a very long time, the Spaniard Silvia Trigueros let slip first place to the Briton Sabrina Verjee. There stays to the chief, fifth general for the second (women and men included), about forty kilometers to go. The French Sandrine Beranger is at present third, battling with the Briton Sophie Grant.