Dolomiti di Brenta Ski Alp dominated by Pietro Lanfranchi and Alba De Silvestro

Two new names were added on Saturday to the Hall of Fame of the prestigious Ski Alp Race Dolomiti di Brenta: expert Pietro Lanfranchi and young Alba De Silvestro. The competition celebrated it’s 42nd edition on Saturday and, as such, is one of the oldest ski mountaineering competitions in Europe and certainly the oldest in Italy’s Trentino region.

In the men’s event 37-year-old Lanfranchi somewhat surprisingly crossed the finishing line first, ahead of hot favourite Damiano Lenzi, while Matteo Eydallin had to pull out of the race during the first ascent due to stomach problems, and Manfred Reichegger didn’t even start for similar reasons. Lenzi placed second therefore, while William Boffelli placed third, ahead of Guido Giacomelli.

The fastest woman was 20-year-old espoir Alba De Silvestro, who beat expert Elena Nicolini, Maria Dimitra Theocharis, Margit Zulian and Italian champion Corinna Ghirardi. This was only Nicolini’s third race after recovering from an injury that had forced her to stop for two months.

In the men’s competition Lanfranchi took the lead pretty much from the outset, during the first ascent towards Grosté, along the 14 km race course that started and finished at Rifugio Boch. The first ascent towards 2850m high Cima Groste proved demanding, as did the 1500m rise to 2760m high Bocca di Sella. Lanfranchi was on great form and, seeing that Lenzi failed to recuperate at the first skin stop, he carefully controlled the pace and completed the course after 1h21’30, 3’24" ahead of Lenzi and 3'56" ahead of William Boffelli who won not only bronze but also the espoir category.

The female athletes competed on the same race course and until Cima Grosté the first three, Alba de Silvestro, Elena Nicolini and Maria Dimitra Theocharis, were only seconds apart. The demanding descent and successive ascents made all the difference: Alba De Silvestro crossed the finishing line alone after 1h43'54", while Elena Nicolini checked in a minute and a half later and Marita Dimitra Theocharis clocked in six minutes afterwards.