IT'S MARCIALONGA TIME

 

“To look forward to pleasure is also a pleasure” stated the German writer and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and who could blame him? But what happens when the much-anticipated day is just around the corner? Marcialonga, the popular cross-country ski marathon, will as always draw many people to Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa. It will definitely be a different Marcialonga due to the COVID-19 restrictions, but the most important thing of all is to answer ‘yes’ to the question, will the 2021 Marcialonga take place?
The 48th Marcialonga will take place on Sunday 31 January with many restrictions due to the pandemic. The event will be held ‘behind closed doors’, but there will be over 2000 participants from 24 different countries. In addition to Italy with 1467 participants, the most represented countries will be the Czech Republic (161), Norway (120) and Sweden (116) – this is not surprising given their love for Marcialonga. Japan, Cyprus, UK, Romania, Belgium, Canada and Belarus will have only one athlete at the start, due to their less deep-rooted cross-country skiing tradition. Even Brazil will be represented by a cross-country skier who lives and works in Val di Fiemme.
Marcialonga is an international highlight that every year draws the best long-distance athletes in the world. As usual, Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa will welcome the great champions of the Visma Ski Classics circuit after the first two stages of La Diagonela and Toblach-Cortina. All eyes will be on the Norwegians Petter Eliassen, winner in 2019, Morten Eide Pedersen and Tord Asle Gjerdalen, who won three Marcialonga editions in a row from 2015 to 2017. Sweden’s Oskar Kardin and Emil Persson, both on the podium at the Toblach-Cortina last weekend, could leave their mark too. Russia’s Ermil Vokuev, winner of the second Visma Ski Classics stage, and his fellow countryman Ilya Chernousov, first place in the 2018 Marcialonga, haven’t registered for the race yet, but they are likely to take part in the 2021 Marcialonga edition.
As for Italy, the top athletes will be Mauro Brigadoi and Francesco Ferrari, but Gilberto Panisi and Lorenzo Busin could get some good results too and try to beat the more titled Nordic cross-country skiers.
On the women’s side, the favourite is Britta Johansson Norgren of Sweden, who has won several times in Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa but who suffered from frostbite in Switzerland 10 days ago. She has registered for the race but it’s not sure if she takes part in it. Other favourites for the victory are the Norwegian Astrid Oyre Slind, the Czech Katerina Smutna and the Swede Lina Korsgren, winner of the Toblach-Cortina event. All eyes are also on the Italian athletes Chiara Caminada and Sara Pellegrini (Fiamme Oro) of Team Robinson Trentino who will try to achieve a good result, as well as on the home-grown athlete Stefania Corradini (Sottozero).
Oskar Kardin of Sweden leads the Visma Ski Classics overall standings on 370 points ahead of Russia’s Ermil Vokuev (300) and the Sweden’s Emil Persson (270), while among the women Sweden’s Lina Korsgren is sitting at the summit of the standings (370) ahead of Ida Dahl of Sweden (300) and Emilie Fleten of Norway (300).
Besides the traditional Marcialonga – the men will start from Moena at 8 a.m. followed by the women 5 minutes after – the organisers will stage two side events: on Saturday the 9th Marcialonga Story starting from 10 a.m., a non-competitive revival that celebrates the history of cross-country skiing, and the 11th Marcialonga Young at 2.30 p.m. on a 4km course where the male and female “Ragazzi” categories will compete; on Sunday, in addition to the main event, there will be the categories “Allievi”, “Aspiranti” and “Junior” of the Marcialonga Young starting at 8.45 a.m.
In Italy the races can be followed from the comfort of home thanks to a live coverage on Sky Sport1 and Sky Sport Arena with the commentators Francesco Pierantozzi, Pietro Nicolodi and Elisa Calcamuggi and the analysts Gabriella Paruzzi and Marco Albarello, while in Trentino the event can be followed live on RTTR with the commentators Marco Selle and Michele Pasqualotto from 7.45 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. thanks to an agreement with Sky Sport. Those who wish to follow the Marcialonga live can also use the Sky Go and Now Tv apps. Radio Fiemme, which has been an important Marcialonga partner for 50 years, will also cover the event with two cars along the course and in the finish area for interviews.
After 50 years, the history of Marcialonga continues...

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