Northug and Olkkonen show in skating – Toblach-Cortina means sun and smiles

The super champion Petter Norhug owns 46th Toblach-Cortina skating. Photofinish sprint, Rueesch ends second and Sandstrem is third. Adrenaline too among women with Olkkonen winning, following Bentz and Kowalczyk

The historic ski-marathon ends with two days of sun and a lot of fun

Toblach-Cortina ski-marathon is a “must do” among long distance cross-country skiing. The Norwegian Petter Norhug, with two Olympic gold medals and thirteen World Championship gold medals, was one of the eligible winners today and he did not let the audience down. Second place for the Swiss Jason Rueesch and the Swedish Bjoern Sandstrem. Among women, the young Finnish Tiia Olkkonen sprinted before the French Coralie Bentz and the ex-Olympic and World champion Justyna Kowalczyk.

Start at 9.30 am, watching at the wonderful Dolomites of Pustertal. Northug made the audience wait this morning, but not at the end. The Norwegian ended his race in 1h42’08” with an enthusiastic final sprint.

Among women was also challenging. The Finnish Olkkonen accelerated at Passo Cimabanche until the end, when she was crowned as the winner with the time of 1h50’42”. Coralie Bentz (FRA) ended as second and third place for the great Justyna Kowalczyk.

Two great days end today, two competitions took place under the sun. It represented another great success for the O.C. president Herbert Santer and his vice Igor Gombac. See you next year!

“Red devils” take 46th Toblach-Cortina – Brigadoi and Boerjesjoe in the sky.

Brigadoi wins over his teammate Ferrari and the American Kornfield. Foreign women podium with Boerjesjoe, Schmidhofer and Donzallaz

Toblach-Cortina Ski-Marathon appeals and surprises again. It’s the ski-marathon linking Bozen and Belluno provinces, two territories, Toblach and Cortina, putting together their strength in order to give cross-country skiers an experience to remember. Team Internorm celebrated under the popular Tofane, with Mauro Brigadoi and the Sweden Malin Boerjesjoe, both with an exceptional performance.

Under a World Cup atmosphere (taking place not far, in Toblach), Dolomites welcomed skiers with flags waving, standing for 32 countries. 2 km and the group headed to Toblach Lake, turning point. After 14 km, a first group passed with Mauro Brigadoi, Francesco Ferrari, Jason Rueesch, Stefano Dal Magro and Tyler Kornfield. At Passo Cimabanche, Brigadoi decided to high his pace, followed by Francesco Ferrari and Tyler Kornfield. Toblach-Cortina gifted all with great views, as the newest “Pian de Loa”.

Francesco Ferrari and Mauro Brigadoi studied their race perfectly. Brigadoi won in 2h04’24”, followed by his teammate Ferrari and Tyler Kornfield, Ski Classics athlete.

Women race was free of surprises, or better, the main action took place during the first stages of the race. Malin Boerjesjoe immediately set a high pace, followed by the Austrian Anna Schmidhofer, the Swiss Nicole Donzallaz and the young French Leonie Harivel (2000). The Swedish kept on with her fast pace until the end, ending first in 2h20’17”.

At the end of the track the president of the Toblach-Cortina O.C., Herbert Santer, was there, together with his vice Igor Gombac and Toblach’s mayor Martin Rienzner. The “senators” Karl Walder, Sergio Bachmann and Hansjörg Bergmann also honoured the 46th edition. They took part to all the editions. Toblach-Cortina attracts everyone: from the 19 years old to the 78 years old veteran.

Tomorrow is time for the 42 km skating, with many xco skiers and two special guests: the Norwegian Petter Northug and the Polish Justyna Kowalcyzk.