ph Paolo Rey
It’s history for the National Cross-Country Team.
Italy are only the fourth nation from 1996 able to place two men in the top spots of the podium in a sprint race, after Norway, Sweden and Russia. It all happened thanks to Federico Pellegrino e Francesco De Fabiani on the tracks in Cogne, on which they never raced at World Cup level before. It’s an “azzurri” feast on the Meadows of Sant’Orso, where ten thousand people came to see the race. A sunny day blessed with spring weather contributed to turn the event into a big celebration.
It was hard to ask more from this free technique sprint race that marks the comeback of the World Cup to the Aosta Valley after 12 years. The Italian double only took shape on the last stretch: Pellegrino had to work hard to reach the tales of Chanavat and De Fabiani, who opened up a small gap in the early stages of the final. The Nus champion broke a pole on the first hill and was in third position until the last turn. There he went full gas and edged his opponents to claim the 13th success of his career, establishing himself even more as the top athlete in the free sprints. He won by 0.48 seconds, before his teammate Francesco De Fabiani, who only found out about his position after the photo finish. This is De Fabiani’s first podium in this format. Chanavat came in third with a 0.51 seconds gap after engaging in a battle with De Fabiani.
Pellegrino has been dominant throughout the day, finishing first in the qualification, the quarters and his semifinal. Russia’s top two athletes, Alexander Bolshunov and Sergey Ustiugov, couldn’t get past the first batteries. The latter fell while he was chasing Pellegrino.
Jessica Diggins won the women’s race, claiming her sixth career victory. She had to wait until the finish line to celebrate though: the 27 years old US skier chased Sandra Ringwald for the most part of the final. This is the first World Cup podium for the German, who conceided only on the final stretch to Diggins, coming in second by 0.11 seconds. Johanna Hagstroem completed the podium: it’s her first on the main circuit and it comes after just six races.
Tomorrow it’s distance day. The women’s 10k race starts at 9:45 followed by the men’s 15k at 12:30. Both competitions will be held in classic style. The 5k lap, with its four hills, will certainly take its toll on the athletes. The first one is named after the Olympic Champion Marco Albarello, who currently holds the position of sport manager in Cogne. The athletes will then have to manage the effort on the other three, “Vincenzo Perruchon”, “MarciaGranParadiso” and “Miniere”.
