Last Sunday at Gavarnie was the day of surprises and confirmations. Matteo Eydallin (Italy) surprised everyone with a fantastic victory, he was able to recuperate the first position with over a minute's distance.
With this victory Matteo places third in the Men's General ranking. "I chose to put skins because the snow was hard, so I struggled early on the even part because the skis held, but did not glide much. My choice proved successful also because I was in the right shape. In the third uphill I found myself side by side with Bon Mardion and Anthamatten; I saw that I was struggling less than they were, so I tried to distance them on the final climb. I've been biting the bullet on the fourth ascent, but it went well. Now I am third in the standings but this is only the second race, so it is still too early to talk about it."
William Bon Mardion, with two second places, is ahead in the general standing. "The first climb was good but the snow was very difficult, very hard and cold. During the third and fourth uphills my legs were a little cold, but I managed to keep contact with the first runners so I let go at the final downhill. I was able to stay close to Jornet Burgada and Marti. I was right behind Matteo and I managed to keep up with him until the finish line."
Killian Jornet Burgada , who won the first leg, fell during the final descent and withdrew, with only 100 points. In the women's category the duel between Laetitia Roux and his main rival, the young Mirela Miro Varela, was even more interesting. Roux managed to prevail in front of Miro, who could not fight at the same level until the end. The two are now at a tie for the first place overall.
Laetitia Roux said: "I came third in the sprint, so today I started 23 seconds after Nathalie Etzensperger - the first in rank – and Gabrielle Magnenat - the second. I caught up with both during a first even bit, and then I reached Mirela Miro. The latter started behind me, but reached me before the climb. We did a good piece of race together, then on the second downhill Mirela, who was in front of me, fell. There I took advantage of the time, detached her and bit the bullet right to the end." Mirel Miro regrets her second place, however excellent it was. "During the second descent I risked too much, there were large blocks of hard snow and I hit one, square. I fell, I broke my sticks and hurt my hand and neck. I did not feel too much pain, so I continued. But I was not concentrated and Laetitia was strong. I believed in winning until the end, but I did not manage to catch up with her."
The confirmation comes mainly from the junior categories. Excellent proof for Italian athletes: Federico Nicolini followed by Gianluca Vanzetta won respectively gold and silver medals in the men's cadet category - they are both at a tie in the overall standings. Alessandra Cazzanelli and Silvia Piccagnoni won a silver and a bronze medal respectively in the junior women's category with second and third place. The gold medal goes to the Swiss athlete Jennifer Fiechter, who thus reaches the first position in the standings, in a tie with Cazzanelli. The podium is identical to the first race for the junior men's category. Anton Reiter and Philipp Palzer (Germany) place first and second, going on to 200 and 180 points, respectively, followed by Iwan Arnold (Switzerland) at 162 points. Also unchanged is the overall ranking of the female cadets with Laura Balet in the lead, follone by Katharina StöGER.
The third stage of the 2011 World Cup ski mountaineering will take place in Tambre (ITA), on February 5th, 2011.