'70' IS MARCIALONGA'S MAGIC NUMBER

The 38th Marcialonga di Fiemme e Fassa is just around the corner. Next January 30^th the long distance XC ski race through the alpine valleys of Fiemme and Fassa will be on, and looking at it from a lottery-betting point of view, we should definitely think about betting on number 70.

In 1970 the Italian XC ski marathon was officially unveiled to the world and the name ‘Marcialonga’ was coined. In the same year the cities of Trento and Mora in Sweden (home of the famous Vasaloppet race) became sister cities and Cavalese in Val di Fiemme hosted a unique ceremony with all the protagonists of the important agreement.

Talking about number 70, the elder competitor of the 2011 Marcialonga, Mr. Ferruccio Buzzi from the nearby Friuli Venezia Giulia region, is 70 years older than the young Norwegian brothers Martin and Henrik Olsson, who are turning 18 just one week before the start of the race. Last, but of course not least, 70 km is the race length from Moena to Cavalese.

Since the very first Marcialonga in 1971, the race took place on January 30th for six times, and the winners have all been from different nationalities. Pauli Siitonen from Finland won in 1972, Jean Paul Pierrat from France closed first in 1977, Walter Mayer from Austria won in 1983 and Johann Muhlegg from Germany was ‘gold’ in 1994. In 2000 Italy’s Fulvio Valbusa got in first, and he is also the last Italian male skier who won the competition. Stanislav Rezac from Czech Republic won in 2005, and he’ll be at the start this year as well. As we might notice no Swedes nor Norwegians ever won the January 30^th race, and in order to finally get the ‘special award’ more than 4.000 Scandinavians will be invading Fiemme and Fassa valleys next January 30^th.

Among the big names who will be at the start of the 2011 Marcialonga, there are Sweden’s Björn Lind, Jörgen Brink, Mathias Fredriksson, Rikard Andreasson, Oskar Svärd, Jerry Ahrlin, Daniel Tynell, Jenny Hansson and Susanne Nyström, Norway’s Thomas Alsgaard, Anders and Jörgen Aukland, Jens Arne Svartedal, Switzerland’s Seraina Mischol and Toni Livers, Stanislav Rezac from Czech Republic, and Italy’s Fabio Santus, Bruno Carrara, Sabina Valbusa, Veronica De Martin Pinter, Marco Cattaneo, Nicola Morandini and Bruno Debertolis.

Over 7.200 skier will compete in 2011 Marcialonga and this will be the new record of entries. The start will be in Moena on Sunday January 30^th, while on Saturday the Marcialonga Stars race with famous personalities and the MiniMarcialonga competition for kids and youngsters will take place at the XC ski stadium in Lago di Tesero. In Lago di Tesero the Marcialonga Young race for young categories is also scheduled on Sunday morning.

Info: www.marcialonga.it