Federico Pellegrino starts the season at the foot of the podium
The winter of Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino opens at the foot of the podium in the sprint in classic technique in Muonio (Finland), first act of the triptych of Fis races that precedes by two weeks the debut stage of the World Cup, scheduled in Ruka (Finland) between November 28 and 30: fourth place for Barp, fifth for Pellegrino, while in the women’s race Iris De Martin Pinter is fifth.
Pellegrino and Barp have been absolute protagonists since the qualifying round that saw the Aosta Valley champion overtaken by only host Juuso Haarala, with the Venetian author of the fourth time.
Both blues were then able to impose themselves in their respective battery, with Pellegrino second in the semifinal of the lower part of the scoreboard and Barp third in the first, complete with the best repechage time.
In the final to prevail was then Austria’s Benjamin Moser, who was ready to slip past the two Finns Haarala and Rantala, with Barp and Pellegrino in his wake; sixth was the other Finnish Niilo Moilanen. The first round, however, presented the red light to Davide Graz and Michael Hellweger, who were fifth and fourth respectively in their own heats after finishing 10th and 30th fastest in qualifying.
Very positive in the women’s round was Iris De Martin Pinter’s fifth place, who after setting the eighth fastest time in the preliminary round was able to make her way through both the heats (second place) and the semifinals, where she took advantage of the best repechage time to earn a place in the final act.
The finals rewarded Germany’s Laura Gimmler, who has been unbeatable since qualifying and won all direct confrontations; behind her was second place for compatriot Coletta Rydzek with host Jasmi Joensuu completing the podium. Also finishing ahead of De Martin Pinter was the other Finn Amanda Saari, and sixth was Germany’s Verena Veit.
Eliminated in the first of the two semifinals, on the other hand, were Federica Cassol (fourth) and Caterina Ganz (sixth), who were both second earlier in their respective batteries. Instead, the first round proved fatal for Nadine Laurent and the returning Nicole Monsorno.
Saturday, Nov. 15, the Muonio triptych continues with a 10km in classic technique with individual start, replicated Sunday with a similar event in free technique.
