A splendid sunny day greeted the tenth edition of “Il Lussarissimo”, the longest parallel giant slalom in the world, which as per tradition took place today on the “Di Prampero” slope in Camporosso. Nearly two hundred athletes registered, coming not only from Friuli Venezia Giulia, but also from various Italian regions as well as Austria and Slovenia.
Winning the nearly hundred-gate race was Francesco Veluscek, who also won the previous edition, clocking a final time of 2:43.63—just one and a half seconds off the all-time event record set in 2007 by Stefano Vuerich. The battle went right down to the final gates with Stefan Lussnig (Sportclub Hermagor) and Jacopo Di Ronco (US Aldo Moro). The Austrian athlete, already a three-time winner of “Il Lussarissimo”, had to settle for second place stopping the clock at 2:44.92, while the Carnia contender stepped onto the third step of the podium.
An outstanding performance came from local athlete Arianna Stocco of the Corpo Forestale sports group, who not only triumphed in the women’s field but also posted the fifth fastest time overall, completing the four-kilometer course in 2:49.88. Behind her came Sara Petozzi, more than two and a half seconds back, and Giusy Rottonara, the first athlete to finish over the three-minute mark.
The event opened with a run by two instructors from the Tarvisio Ski School who raced wearing vintage 1950s and 1960s clothing and skis. Equally significant was the subsequent forerunner descent by the “Sport for All” group of visually impaired athletes, who in two weeks’ time will compete in the Italian National Paralympic Championships.
Great success also marked the vertical race held last night along the Pellegrino trail, which over nearly six kilometers and one thousand meters of elevation gain led athletes from the finish area of the “Di Prampero” up to the Monte Lussari Sanctuary. Taking victory was Tadei Pivk (US Aldo Moro), one of the strongest athletes on the Italian and international scene in the discipline, who completed the climb in 44 minutes ahead of Slovenian Nejc Kuhar by 2.51 seconds and Marco Del Missier (SS Fornese) by 3.13 seconds. In the women’s race, Italian Dimitra Theocharis (US Aldo Moro) triumphed, reaching the summit in 54 minutes and 55 seconds. Second place went to Karmen Klancnik, ahead of Marita Kröhn, winner of the editions from 2007 to 2013.
As for the snowshoe vertical race, Denis Nodale (US Aldo Moro) put in an excellent performance in the men’s category with a time of 45 minutes and 0.07 seconds, finishing ahead of Nicola Pasquili (Fun Bike) and David Bianchini (Timaucleulis). Among the women, victory went to Belinda Cimenti ahead of Maura Sergon and Tina Fratina Zagar.
Around fifteen fearless competitors also took on the special combined classification, which required climbing the vertical course and descending the giant slalom using the very same equipment. Victory went to Silvio Wieltschnig (Laufclub Hermagor) ahead of his teammate Robert Stark, while US Raibl athlete Davide Limongi claimed the third step of the podium. In the women’s combined event, Dimitra Theocharis won ahead of Marita Kröhn.
However, Lussarissimo did not only reward the top finishers in the standings, as many participants won prizes thanks to a bib-number raffle. The 50th and 100th finishers were also rewarded, with the coveted prize of a pair of skis going to Val Gardena skier Mari.
more info on the official website: www.lussarissimo.com
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