OK Biathletes at the Toblach-Cortina: Montello and Sanfilippo centre the point

Day to be framed in Toblach, with French attacking. Former biathletes “converted” to cross-country skiing Montello and Sanfilippo win. All foreign the combined: Bing (GER) and Heiskanen (FIN) win

Another wonderful day in Toblach, where today took place the second and final race of one of the most eagerly awaited and most traditional granfondo races not only in Italy. The Granfondo Toblach-Cortina is part of the “Challengers” category of Ski Classics, with almost 700 athletes that today have kicked off from the Air Force Base in Toblach for the 35 km in free technique, and to stand out were the names of Federica Sanfilippo for the women and of Giuseppe Montello for men. Two former biathletes literally “surrounded” by the French rivals.

The locality in Pustertal practically had to organise a “Toblach…Toblach”, seen the problems that came up in Cortina because of the high temperatures that made impossible the preparation of the traditional second part of the course. Great work, therefore, on the part of the organizing committee, which deserves credit for not giving up, as is happening at major international events.

Today there was a big selection from the first kilometres. At the passage on the “monumental” overpass of the Nordic Arena, in fact, a group of 20 athletes already had several metres of advantage on the first chasers. Giuseppe Montello and the French Gerard Agnellet attempted a breakaway, outdistancing the other transalpine Victor Lovera by about thirty seconds. The two then tackled the descent in pair, which they said was crucial. Once they returned at the Nordic Arena where the finish line was placed, the Italian was able to anticipate the sprint time, as per manual in Toblach, concluding the race in 1h21’54”. The Frenchman then made a comeback in the very last metres, ending up just a few centimetres away from victory. A great success for Montello, a former biathlete, who managed to put his tactic into practice: to make as much selection as possible. However, Lovera managed to contain Thomas Bing’s comeback, placing 3rd at 2’14”, with the German 4th at +2’17”. No other Italians in the top nine, a sign of a high level foreign presence; 10th was Paolo Fanton.

In the women’s race another sprint won by an Italian, also a former biathlete! The goal of the athlete from Val Ridanna Federica Sanfilippo was the same as Montello, to make a selection; however, when it was no longer possible to make more, she pulled the oars in the boat and prepared for the sprint. Sanfilippo was also very adept at fine-tuning the ‘Toblach tactic’, attacking on the penultimate climb, leading the final descent and crossing the finish line in first position (1h32’29″3) with a 4/10 lead over Felicie Chappaz (FRA) and 5/10 lead over Coralie Bentz (FRA).

A day tinted with the Italian colours then in Toblach, with two Italian win but also 4 French on the podium. Worth mentioning is that Chappaz, second today, is the little sister of Jules that precisely this season obtained his first podium in the World Cup, after having placed a heavy bronze medal around his neck at the World Championships in Planica 2023.

It was also expected the combined ranking, with the sum of the times of both days, yesterday in classic and today in skating, in which Thomas Bing (GER) dominated with a total time of 3h9’54”6 over Alfred Buskqvist (SWE) and Johannes Ekloef (SWE). Among women, Heli Heiskanen (FIN) won with a total time of 3h38’25” over Franziska Mueller (GER) and Nicole Donzallaz (SUI).

“It was certainly a success, given the more than 1500 athletes at the start over the two days. The traditional course, due to the high temperatures, would not have been up to such a large number of competitors, but we are confident that in the future we will be able to resolve this issue by tackling it differently. The main objective is to be able to offer these athletes what they deserve. This year absolutely must serve as a lesson for the future,” said Igor Gombac, vice-president of the organising committee and coordinator of the Cortina area.

Riege at the photo finish, cross country skiers and Heiskanen taking of at the airport

Men’s race in a sprint: Riege, same time as Nygaard, Ferrari 3rd. Among women 2nd place for Stefania Corradini in the Heiskanen’s race

A sunny Toblach, in South Tyrol, hosted the first day of races of the historic 47th Granfondo Toblach-Cortina. Due to unfavourable weather conditions, they had to turn around at the last minute by setting the race finish line in Toblach, thus not descending to Cortina, with the Nordic Arena that saw almost 1000 cross-country skiers cut the finish line. An authentic mix between professionals and amateurs. The “Challengers” events of the Ski Classics circuit, in fact, let everyone experience the dream of competing with the best long distance skiers, regardless of age or category.

Today the race on the distance of 42 km in classic technique was scheduled, while tomorrow it will be the time for the 35 km race in skating. The Toblach-Cortina took off, in the literal sense of the word given the start at the airport, from Toblach as per tradition. Among men, the group remained compact during the whole competition despite the initial attempt of escape of Heinrick Hau (GER). The top group at around 15 kilometres caught the latter, and from there no one was able to make the difference anymore, also due to the speed of the course, brilliantly prepared by the organizing committee led by Herbert Santer. It then continued in a group until the arrival at the Nordic Arena, where the two Norwegians Andreas Nygaard and Amund Riege went wild, approaching the sprint at full speed. The photo finish between the two ruled in favour of Riege (Team Ramudden) by a nose, with the compatriot Nygaard (Team Ragde Charge) resulting second. “I was in front before the last climb, I knew that approaching the straightaway in front was fundamental since it is quite short here. So I tried to select, the last ascent was fundamental as always here in Toblach. You have to come down fast and keep the leadership until the last curve and then push with all you got in the straightaway. I heard I arrived before Andreas in the photo finish and I am very happy!” these are the words of the winner. Third is a brilliant Francesco Ferrari. The Italian of the Internorm Alpenplus Trentino Team put together a first-class last kilometre, holding up Riege’s shock on the final climb and keeping the throttle wide open all the way to the finish. After the race, he said he was very satisfied to have arrived just few meters away from such a prestigious win. A positive 4th place also for the other Italian who stayed strong in the top group Lorenzo Busin, teammate of Ferrari. Only 6th place for one of today’s favourites, Thomas Bing (GER) who usually pays the price in sprint finishes.

Regarding the women’s race, Italy was once again a big protagonist. The success went to Heli Heiskanen (FIN) of the Internorm Alpenplus Trentino Team, who literally “killed” competition even before reaching the halfway point. At the tracking of the 22nd kilometre, the Finnish had, in fact, an advantage of 1’54” on the Italian Stefania Corradini. The latter keep up well until the end, cutting the finish line with the same gap she had at the halfway point and with around 1’30” on the third placed, Oda Nerdrum (NOR). “Today it was too fun! The atmospheric conditions and the course were perfect. Here it is always a pleasure to compete, not only because I won, but the conditions are always perfect.” Declared at the finish line the winner Heiskanen. Eighth place for the second Italian, Anna Giordan. At the end of the competition, under a sun that almost took away the regret for the cancellation of the ‘Veneto’ part of the race, the prize-giving ceremony took place. The athletes remarked how a great job had been done in putting on an event that just could not be skipped, given its history.

UPDATE: Finish in Dobbiaco

Attention, new route modification: Due to the warm temperatures of the last few days and the lack of snow, we are moving the finish line to Dobbiaco! We apologise for the inconvenience.

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Registrations 2024 open

Registrations for Toblach-Cortina 2024 are open.
We’ll welcome you back to Toblach-Cortina for the 47th Dobbiaco-Cortina Cross Country Race on 3th and 4th February 2024. 

Register now

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.

Dobbiaco Cortina changes its look, 42km for skating-race too, starts with 3 Peaks View

The 46th in Dobbiaco-Cortina will take place on the weekend of 4-5 February 2023
Track change: Val di Landro will host the departures.
Confirmed the new distance of 42 km for the skating competition

A great and positive opportunity, born from what could have appeared as a problem. The announcement of the FIS, the assignment of three days of the Cross-Country World Cup at the Nordic Arena in Dobbiaco on the same date as the traditional Dobbiaco-Cortina Granfondo, had aroused some perplexity. Instead, during a meeting with the Mayor of Dobbiaco Martin Rienzner, the two presidents – Herbert Santer (Granfondo Dobbiaco-Cortina) and Gerti Taschler (SportOK Dobbiaco) all find an ideal solution together, thanks to ability, sportiness and sensitivity.

The 46th Dobbiaco-Cortina will take place in the first weekend of February 2023, two days for the two competitions: 42 km of classical technique on Saturday 4th and 42 km of skating technique on Sunday 5th. The World Cup competitions will take place from 3 to February 5th. The opportunity? Simple: on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the participants in the Granfondo will be able to attend the World Cup races, which could thus have a larger audience on the track.
The strong and motivated Organizing Committee Granfondo Dobbiaco-Cortina, chaired by Herbert Santer with his deputy Igor Gombac is already working, supported by Dobbiaco and Cortina institutions, to fulfill the wishes of cross-country enthusiasts.
The 46th Dobbiaco-Cortina will bring with it a new regarding the track: the great platoon of skiers will start from the spectacular starting point located in Val di Landro, at the feet of the suggestive Three Peacks / Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Races will move towards Lake Dobbiaco and about 1.5 km from the Nordic Arena there will be the turning point that will catapult everyone towards Cortina d’Ampezzo, passing in the points: Lake Dobbiaco, War Cemetery, Three Peacks View Point, Lago di Landro and then in order the passage to Carbonin, Passo Cimabanche (highest point of the races), Ospitale, Fiames and the arrival in Cortina D’Ampezzo centre, where many works are in progress, in view of the upcoming Winter Olympics.
This new is added to that relating to the distance of the skating competition, which will be 42 km. long, like the classic one; a real “Marathon distance” also for skating skiers! Route details, route map and profile will be published on Dobiacocortina.org by the end of July.

The participants of the 2023 Granfondo will experience a weekend particularly rich in emotions and sports.

Klee wins ahead of the Carabinieri and the Esercito. Elisa Brocard takes flight from the start and wins alone.

The Swiss Klee wins the final ahead of Gardener, Montello and Fanton. Klee and Elisa Perenzoni take first place in the combined race after 2 days of racing.
Positive balance for the organising committee around President Herbert Santer.

After the Swiss Beda Klee had sharpened his knives yesterday in the classic race, today he challenged the Azzurri from the Carabiniere and Esercito team in the 30 km skating race from Dobbiaco to Cortina and prevailed at the finish line.
In the women’s race, Elisa Brocard pulled away from the first metres and was not to be seen afterwards – a clear and deserved victory.

All results