The junior team from Piedmont/Aosta Valley won over Trento-Dellavalle during the first Mezzalama Jeunes on Friday. Due to the weather condition the 20th Mezzalama Trophy was postponed until next Saturday.
Only youngsters were lucky enough last week. Young sportsmen could begin the first edition of the Mezzalama Jeunes on Friday in Gabiet, Gressoney La Trinité on a sunny day and with almost spring temperature. Cadets and Juniors, representing the future of ski mountaineering, battled it out over a technical course in the vicinity of the Canalino dell’Aquila.
The boys in the Junior category raced along a course with a 1500 mt elevation gain spread out over four climbs, with the technical stretch of the canalino dell’Aquila raced on foot with skis tied to their backbacks. Cadets and girls in the Junior category followed a shorter course with a 900 metre elevation gain and three climbs and the same stretch of the canalino dell’Aquila to be raced on foot.
The victory in the Junior competition went to Erik Pettavino and Enrico Cognein, a team from Piedmont/Aosta Valley with a time of 2:04:30. Mathias Trento and Andrea Dellavalle (both from the Aosta Valley) came second, followed by the team from Venice, Fabio Pettinà and Matteo Cuel.
In the Junior competition the race was won in the course of the third climb when Erik Pettavino and Enrico Cognein made their move and started to pull away from Mathias Trento and Andrea Dellavalle both from the Aosta Valley. In third place were Fabio Pettinà and Matteo Cuel, who were shoulder to shoulder with the leaders right up to the end of the second climb.
In cadets category brothers Sébastien and Fabien Guichardaz from Cogne won the first prize (with time of 1:22:09). Among the girls in the Cadet category, Giorgia Felicetti and Melanie Ploner were champions with a time of 1:39:42. The Swiss team, Deborah Chiarello and Marianne Fatton won the first place in the Junior category (with a time of 1:37:40).
Check all results!
The Mezzalam Trophy postponed until the 1st May
While the famous Mezzalama Trophy needed to be postponed from last Saturday to Friday, the 1st May. Weather conditions did not allow the start and could cause a danger to athletes.
The forecast is pretty unequivocal and since the weather is expected to be bad for the whole of next weekend, we are forced to postpone the start of the Mezzalama until the 1st May
said Adriano Favre, technical director of the Mezzalama Trophy:
With such a difficult technical course, raced for the most part at altitudes of over 4000 mt., we cannot let 300 teams set off if there is a risk of the meteorological conditions suddenly getting worse. Once again we have to think first and foremost of the safety of the athletes and race officials who will be working at high altitudes for the entire duration of the race.