http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/mamo-belotti-grand-ballon-wmra-world-cup
15 JUN 2014 Report Grand Ballon, France Mamo and Belotti take Grand Ballon
titles in second leg of WMRA World Cup
Eritrea's Petro Mamo was one of the favourites ahead of the second race of
the WMRA Mountain Running World Cup and he did not disappoint in the 34th
edition of the La MonText
<
https://cms.iaaf.haymarketnetwork.com/Article/EditAction#bc>tée du Grand
Ballon race in France on Sunday (14).
When he crossed the finish line on the top of Vosges mountain, the
stopwatch showed the incredible time of 57:36, an improvement of almost two
minutes on Ahmet Arslan's course record from 2012.
After 3km of the 13,4km course, with 1230m elevation gain that also
included also 210m of descent, Mamo started to pull away from his closest
opponents, which included his compatriots Azaria Teklay, Debessay Tsege,
France's Julien Rancon and Kenya's Wandangi Hirum.
>From that point, and the 2012 World champion was never headed as Teklay
come home a distant second in 1:00:29 and Tsege 17 seconds further back to
complete an all-Eritrea podium; all the runners benefiting from dry and
relatively cool conditions.
"The course was not very difficult. The biggest obstacle during today's
race was the wind, which was blowing extremely strong, especially in the
upper part of the course, when the route emerges from the forest. For that
reason, there was also a chill in the air from time to time," commented Mamo
In the women's race, Italy's Valentina Belotti made it a hat trick of wins
after her victories in 2012 and 2013.
Her winning time of 47:41 on the 8.4km course was almost two minutes slower
than her record, but still enough for a clear victory.
Hungary's Merenyi Timea, who had finished fifth in the opening World Cup
race in Austria a week, three places behind Belotti, this time got closer
to the Italian and finished second in 49:12.
"I was not in top shape for this event, because I am preparing for the
European Championships (in the French town of Gap on 12 July). I liked the
challenging course and the friendly organisers. The only part of the course
I did not like were the two rocky sections in the last two kilometres,"
reflected Belotti after her win.
The third leg of the six-race World Cup will be the 16th Gorski tek na
Grintovec race in Kamnik, Slovenia, on 27 July.
*WMRA for the IAAF*
Received on Mon Jun 16 2014 - 09:04:20 EDT