Porro and Mairhofer triumph: pure ecstasy at the 29th Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike

Finally, on Saturday the day arrived: Samuele Porro from Rossano Veneto put an end to Leonardo Paez's series of victories in Villabassa, while Sandra Mairhofer, from South Tyrol from Tesido, prevailed over all her opponents in the women's race.

Source: press release

More than 2200 enthusiastic participants from 39 countries met early on Saturday morning in the center of Villabassa to try their hand at the 29th edition of the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike. The weather was kind to them: there was no precipitation or even thunderstorms, but it was rather cloudy making the temperatures optimal for cycling. the mood was therefore good at the start, given by the head of the organizing committee Kurt Ploner, the mood in the 3 Cime/3 Zinnen Dolomiti region was good and it improved even more when it was clear that two Italians would prevail over the two queen distances. The last time it happened was at the 13th edition of the event way back in 2007, when Klaus Fontana (Valdaora) and Anna Ferrari won the 119 kilometers of the Marathon distance of the time.

The route of the Elite men's race was subsequently extended to 123 kilometres. Precisely on this distance this year two Italian bikers would have deserved the victory. Samuele Porro and Fabian Rabensteiner, from Villandro in South Tyrol, reached the finish line together. As a gentleman, Rabensteiner let his teammate in the Wilier Vittoria team win. Thus, with a time of 4h43'06”5, Samuele Porro achieved his second victory in the Dolomiti Superbike after that of 2018, while Rabensteiner, with a delay of three tenths of a second, finished second for the second time in a row. Also on the third step of the podium was an Italian biker, Gioiele De Cosmo (4h43'42”).

The trio ran the entire race in the leading group, but the all-Italian podium was only decided at Prato Piazza, where the three separated Leonardo Paez. The Colombian had won all three of the last editions and, with his five triumphs, still holds the record for victories at the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike. This time Paez had to settle for fourth place (4h46'50”5). Greek Ilias Periklis, winner of the 20th edition in 2014, placed fifth.

Sandra Mairhofer brings a festive atmosphere to Villabassa

Almost half an hour earlier, when Sandra Mairhofer crossed the finish line with her arms raised, the volume rose in the finish area in Piazza Von Kurz in Villabassa. The 32-year-old, in fact, is from Tesido, which is located about ten kilometers away, and as the best triathlete in the world in Cross and Winter Triathlon she is a well-known face in Val Pusteria. She had already demonstrated that she too knows how to compete in the MTB-Marathon, for example with several top-5 placings in the Dolomiti Superbike and her victory came at the 29th edition of the event. Mairhofer reached the finish line of the 85 km race in 3h51'33”, more than 40 seconds ahead of Mara Fumagalli, who came second. The two started an exciting head-to-head, alternating several times in first position, but from Prato Piazza onwards Mairhofer showed more resistance and was able to celebrate her first victory.

Another Italian biker took the third step of the podium, Agnes Tschurtschenthaler from Pustertal (3h56'14”). After second place in the last edition, this was a confirmation for the great runner from Sesto Pusteria. Like Paez, at the foot of the men's podium, the winner of last edition also remained outside the women's podium: the German Adelheid Morath, European MTB Marathon champion, placed fourth. Fifth place, however, went to the Italian Maria Zarantonello.

Nicolas Samparisi wins on the medium course

The victory in the men's 85 kilometers went to the Italian Nicolas Samparisi. The Russian Aleksei Medvedev had started chasing him, but was no longer able to recover and reached the finish line 25 seconds late. Third place went to the Italian Pierpaolo Ficara. In the race on the shortest route of the Südtirol Dolomiti Superbike, however, Klaus Fontana (Valdaora) and the Italian Chiara Ciuffini won.

MEN'S ELITE RANKING

FEMALE ELITE RANKING