“Rampa Con I Camponi" goes to Toni Escher

“RAMPA CON I CAMPIONI” GOES TO TONI ESCHER - LAURA ORGUÉ WINS WITH THE SKIS OF CONFORTOLA

• This morning the “Rampa con i Campioni”, waiting for the conclusion of the 11th Tour de Ski

• German Toni Escher dominates the promotional event

• Laura Vila Orgué wins among women with the skis of Antonella Confortola

• Second place for the skiman of Sergej Ustiugov, favoured for the title

The morning of 8 Janury in Val di Fiemme (Trentino region, Italy) began with the “Rampa con i Campioni” a promotional event of 9 km in free technique, while waiting for one of the most exciting contests involving World Cup skiers in the last stage of the Tour de Ski, with women starting at 11:30 a.m. and men starting at 3:30 p.m.

This promotional event that sees amateurs and former professional skiers competing on the demanding climb to Alpe Cermis was won by German Toni Escher, with an amazing performance from the start to the end: “It is a really tough competition; I trained a little at home but Alpe Cermis is something different, a very special hill. The Final Climb is really exciting, the track was perfect and weather conditions were ideal. The track in the initial part was really fast and it took a while before I was able to make the difference”. The second place went to Emanuel Moser and the third to Egor Sorin.

Among women, the victory went to Spain’s Laura Vila Orgué, maybe thanks to the skis borrowed from Antonella Confortola for the race: “Last time I was here I took part in the Tour de Ski in the 2014-2015 season. Today it was harder for me, because I am not trained and it took several minutes more than last time to complete the climb, but I am happy to be here. I used the skis of Antonella because we competed together and have had the same sponsor for many years, but we also share the same passion for mountain running and I asked her to lend me her skis: Now I can tell that the choice was right!” The podium was completed by Austrian Liudmila Uzik and Tanja Beumler from Switzerland.

Tired but clearly happy was Giovanni Vignoli, the youngest competitor to cross the finish line at 21 years: “It is always very exciting; this is the third time I climb this terrible hill, but you never recall how hard and demanding it is. You must not look ahead otherwise you get frightened. You just have to push hard. The emotions you live when you cross the finish line cannot be described. As far as the Tour de Ski is concerned, I think that Weng and Ustiugov will win, they have something more than the others”.

Info: www.fiemmeworldcup.com