Prévot wins in Nals, Avondetto cheers in the men's race

Sunshine Race Nals 2024, Podium Männer Elite. ©Alessio Pederiva / WilierVittoria

Photo: Alessio Pederiva

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is the queen of the Marlene Südtirol Sunshine Race. The world champion wins ahead of Giada Specia and Nina Benz. Best Swiss woman is Ginia Caluori in fourth place. Simone Avondetto wins ahead of the Swiss Luca Schätti and his Italian compatriot Filippo Fontana. Finja Lipp (GER) and Mathis Guay (FRA) are the winners in the U23 category, where Monique Halter (SUI) takes second place. There were two Swiss victories in the U19 category with Lara Liehner and Nicolas Halter.

Sunshine Race: the name said it all. The Marlene Südtirol Sunshine Race in sunny Nals turned into a spectacle. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who as the reigning world champion wears the rainbow jersey and has a total of 12 world championship titles to her name, was unbeatable in today's cross-country race.

The Frenchwoman took the lead after the starting lap and continued to extend her lead over the following five laps: "What a beautiful race! The course is very demanding from start to finish, the climb is tough and the descent is very technical, so you don't have the chance to recover. You have to stay focused throughout the entire race, which I managed to do, I'm very happy," said the beaming winner at the finish.

After her victory last year, Giada Specia (ITA) took second place. She won the duel with the German Nina Benz. "We knew that Pauline would attack from the start, so I tried to keep my pace in the group of two with Nina. On the last lap, I realized that she was struggling more than me and I was able to overtake her," said Specia. So third place for a nonetheless satisfied Nina Benz, who finished on the podium twice at the weekend in Nals.

The men's race began in bright sunshine at 2.30 pm and the pace was high right from the start. The composition of the leading group varied: sometimes 5, sometimes 7 athletes, who reeled off lap after lap. Halfway through the race, one of the favorites, Mario Bair, dropped out. He had to retire from the race prematurely after breaking his chain. I

In the final laps, the trio of Simone Avondetto, Luca Schätti (SUI) and Filippo Fontana took the reins, and on the last lap it was Avondetto from Piedmont who made the decisive attack and took the win after his third place last year. Simone Avondetto (Wilier - Vittoria) won ahead of a Schätti and a solid Fontana. "A nice race with a high pace. There was some good action from the start and in the final I felt good and attacked. I'm very happy with the win," added Avondetto.

A satisfied Schätti emphasized: "It's always a pleasure to ride these races: Simone, Filippo and I have been riding together for 10 years and it's nice to meet again in these challenges. Simone was better today and deserved to win."

In the U23 category, victory in the women's race went to Germany's Finja Lipp. She came out on top ahead of Switzerland's Monique Halter, who was slowed down by a puncture towards the end of the race while leading. Frenchman Mathis Guay won the U23 men's race.

In the morning, the junior category bikers opened the race: Here, victory went to Nicolas Halter. The talented Swiss rider with start number 1 always led the race in the company of his colleagues Hougs (DEN) and Sommer (SUI), who he was then able to leave behind on the last of the four laps. Tommaso Bosio and Mattia Stenico finished as the best "Azzurri" in 12th and 13th place, while Mattia Agostinacchio had to retire at the end of the first lap after crashing into a tree on the start lap and suffering severe pain in his shoulder.

A Swiss victory was also achieved in the subsequent U19 women's race (start at 10.45 am, 3 laps plus start) by Lara Liehner. She immediately pulled away together with Marusa Tereza Serkezi (SLO) and overtook her rival on the last lap, partly because the Slovenian had bad luck with a chain jump. With athletes like these, the future of mountain biking is in good hands and once again the Marlene Südtirol Sunshine Race proved to be a great stage for the UCI Junior Series.

Short track victories go to France

In last Friday evening's short track race, victory also went to Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. In a thrilling race, the Frenchwoman came out on top ahead of Germany's Nina Benz. Elisabeth Susanne Brandau was another athlete from Germany to make it onto the podium. Victory in the men's race also went to France. Mathis Azzaro relegated the "Azzurro" Filippo Fontana and the Norwegian Emil Hasund Eid to second and third place.

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