First victory for Rémi Bonnet (SUI) and second for Axelle Gachet-Mollaret (FRA) in the Vertical race held in Pontedilegno-Tonale

Press Release

First victory for Rémi Bonnet (SUI) and second for Axelle Gachet-Mollaret (FRA) in the Vertical race held in Pontedilegno-Tonale

The Austrian Paul Verbnjak and the Italian Samantha Bertolina have excelled in the U23 category,

while the strongest U20s have been Thomas Bussard (SUI) and Grace Staberg (USA)

Lausanne, 17 December 2021 – The strong Swiss athlete Rémi Bonnet and the transalpine champion Axelle Gachet-Mollaret have won the second race of the first stage of the 2021/22 WÜRTH MODYF ISMF World Cup, improving the times set here in the 2020 edition. A few hours after the Sprint race of yesterday, the very steep slope has been a tough test bench for the athletes, who had to face a race track from the centre of Pontedilegno to the Corno d’Aola refuge. Indeed, today’s Vertical race has been a real succession of steep walls putting arms, heart, head and skins of the skimo World Cup champions to the test. The programme of the competition included 4.000 metres of development and 700 metres of positive height difference. The time to beat was 23’40” set last year by Italian Federico Nicolini, while, among Senior Women, the time of 28’56” performed by Axelle Mollaret always last year in the same location.

There were great expectations for this Vertical race, as it represented a good test to evaluate the physical shape of the participating international ski mountaineering athletes coming from 18 countries. At the end the Swiss Rèmi Bonnet crossed the finish line first with a time of 23’33”, followed by his teammate Werner Marti, leading the race at the beginning thanks to an initial very strong sprint, with a short delay of 27″. The Italian Michele Boscacci has arrived third in 24’09”.

As for the Senior Women, the French Axelle Gachet-Mollaret proved to be the strongest, beating even herself compared to the 2020 performance held in Pontedilegno and counting a final time of 27’39”. The silver medal has been for the Swedish Tove Alexandersson (28’22”), while the bronze one for the Austrian Sarah Dreier (29’02”).

On the U23 Men category’s podium, there are the Austrian Paul Verbnjak (1° place), the Swiss Aurélien Gay (2° place) and the Italian Matteo Sostizzo (3° place), while Samantha Bertolina (ITA), Katia Mascherona (ITA) and Perrine Gindre (FRA) have arrived respectively in first, second and third position among Women.

The Swiss U20 Thomas Bussard has preceded his twin brother Robin taking the victory, while Anselme Damevin (FRA) has completed the podium on the third step. Grace Staberg (USA), Caroline Ulrich (SUI) and Thibe Deseyn (SUI) are the first three athletes among the U20 Women.

Tomorrow, Saturday 18 December, the athletes will have a rest day and on Sunday there will be the first long-awaited Individual race of the 2021/22 season. It will take place at Passo Tonale and Presena glacier with the start at 9.30.

Tap here to watch the replay of the streaming for the Sprint and Vertical races held during the Adamello World Cup.

Photos here

Full results here

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Contact
Roberto Cavallo, Event Director, rcavallo@ismf-ski.org, +39 335 5745945

About the ISMF
Founded in 2007, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation ISMF is the global governing body for ski mountaineering competitions. Since 2016, the organization is officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee IOC. Its main goals are the promotion, regulation and development of the ski mountaineering sport worldwide. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, the ISMF’s membership consists of 40 national mountaineering or ski sports federations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The ISMF organizes ski mountaineering World Cups events and World Championships. For the first time, ski mountaineering has been a medal sport at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne Switzerland and has recently been included in the programme of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

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