Europe's top climbers converge in Italy's Val di Fassa

This week Italy's Val di Fassa and the little town of Campitello will host the 2017 European Climbing Championship and the show will be served on a silver platter. For three days in a row – 29 June to 1 July – the best climbers of the Continent will fight hard in Lead and Speed disciplines inside the beautiful and modern venue called ADEL wall.

Adam Ondra certainly represents the man to beat, he will be leading the Czech squad and his teammates will be Jakub Konecny, Denis Pail, Stepan Volf, Tomas Binter, Iva Vejmolova, Gabriela Vrablikova, Tereza Kubatova, Lenka Slezakova and Eliska Adamoska, plus the superfast Petr and Matej Burian and Libor Hroza. Italy will be competing with Stefano and Claudia Ghisolfi plus Laura Rogora, Belgium will also run for medals with Simon Lorenzi, Loïc Timmermans, Sebastien Berthe, Heloïse Doumont and Anak Verhoeven.

France and Spain are among the biggest teams in the tournament. France can count on former European and World Champion Romain Desgranges, but also on Sam Avezou, Thomas Joannes, Tanguy Topin, Charli Blein, Nao Monchois and the girls Mathilde Becerra, Salomè Romain, Julia Chanourdie, Helene Janicot, Nolwenn Arc, Bassa Mawem, Aurelia Sarisson and Anouck Jaubert. Regarding the Spanish team, the superstar Ramon Julian Puigblanque will climb in good company, namely with Frade Bittor Esparta, Mikel Asier Linacisoro Molina, Javier Cano Blazquez, Jonatan Flor Vazquez and Alex Castilla Hernandez.

Sebastian Halenke, Martin Tekles, David and Ruben Firnenburg, Christoph Hanke, and Jan Hojer will attempt to get medals for the German team, while Russia will be the most numerous team of the European Championship. Here they are: Sergei Bydtaev, Sergei Luzhetskii, Mikhail Chernikov, Vladislav Shevchenko, Aleksei Shchervianin, Evgeny Kalashnikov, Elena Krasovskaia, Iuliia Panteleeva, Ekaterina Kipriianova, Evgeniia Malamid, Viktoriia Meshkova, Ekaterina Golovina (team lead), plus Georgiy Morozov, Almaz Nagaev, Aleksandr Shikov, Stanislav Kokorin, Dmitrii Timofeev, Vladislav Deulin, Georgy Artamon, Katina Gareeva, Elizaveta Ivanova, Daria Kan, Anna Tsyganova, Iuliia Karina, Elena Timofeeva, Mariia Krasavina, Svetlana Motovilova and Elena Remilova (team speed).

Georgia (Guram Dabrundashvili and Salome Meshveliani), the Netherlands (Jorg Verhoeven and Nikki Van Bergen), Norway (Ketil Bøe, Lisa-Mariee Kvandahl and Tina Johnsen Hafsaas), Poland (Piotr Schab, Maciej Dobrzanski, Marcin Dziekski, Aleksandra Rudzinska, Edyta Ropek and Anna Brozek), Austria (Georg Parma), Bulgaria (Maria Georgieva) and Britain (Molly Thompson-Smith) will also be at the start in Italy's Val di Fassa at the end of the month.

Domen Škofic will lead the Slovenian team and in a few days he will show up in Italy together with Martin Bergant, Milan Preskar, Jernej Kruder, Janja Garnbret, Mina Markovic, Tsasa Kalan, Urska Repusic, Vita Lukan, Mia Krampl and Veronika Meke.

Serbia (Stasa Gejo), Sweden (Hannes Puman, Kristoffer Lindback, Kajsa Rosen, Nea Baehr Herforth and Katrin Amann), Turkey (Arda Kadir Uruluer, Recep Gur, Nuri Muhammet Aydeminr, Sahin Sarp, Ayse Narmanli, Akca Buket, Isik Begum and Ismail Ozturck) and Ukraine (Mykhayl Tkachuk, Fedir Samoilov, Margaryta Zakjarova, Ievgeniia Kazbekova, Kostiantyn Pavlenko, Danyl Boldyrev, Oleksandr Salimov, Igor Tiapkin, Alla Marenych and Tetiana Kolkotina) complete the Championship Nations' table.

Info: www.fassaclimbingevents.com, www.valdifassaclimbing.it and the channels Facebook and Instagram