Media Information
Remi Bonnet undefeatable; Alba de Silvestro claims her first Vertical World Cup win
Andorra, 21 January 2024 – Time today for one of the more classic stops of the ISMF World Cup circuit: the vertical race of Comapedrosa, Andorra. Sunshine, cold temperatures and 720m of elevation and one question on everyone’s mind: Would Remi Bonnet be able to break his own course record? The Swiss delivered a master class to claim gold, second of the weekend for him, while on the women’s race, Italian Alba de Silvestro claimed her first-ever win on a Vertical race at the World Cup circuit.
Thirty one women toed the start line at 9.30 and it only took a couple of minutes for the field to stretch and the leaders to start positioning themselves on the top places. And it was Alba de Silvestro the one who pushed at the beginning, followed closely by the strong Austrian team -Sarah Dreier and Johanna Hiemer- and with Emily Harrop (FRA), Celia Perillat-Pessey (FRA), Marta García (ESP) and Antonia Niedermaier (GER) trying to stay in touch.
When the women hit the more steep segment, it was Marta Garcia making her move and taking the lead, with De Silvestro at her feet, and together the two of them moved until the last ramps, when the Italian found an extra gear to leave Marta behind, while Harrop made a last push to moved to second place and start battling for the victory.
Facing the finish line, De Silvestro and Harrop were shoulder to shoulder and Garcia in third place, looking behind her a few times to make sure that she had enough of a gap with Dreier, who was on the chase. A last push was enough for Silvestro to get a couple of meters ahead of Harrop to claim her first ever victory on a Vertical at an ISMF World Cup race, Harrop finishing second and García in third. Dreier took the chocolate medal and Celia Perillat-Pessey rounding up the top five.
On the men’s race, it was another classic Remi’s day at the office. The Swiss knows the Andorra course by heart, and he proved it by going full gas from the gun, not only the victory on sight but also breaking the course record, which he holds since 2021.
With the rest of the field battling for silver, Bonnet tried hard in the last ramps racing against the clock, but ended up crossing the finish line stopping the clock on 26:07 minutes, just 12 seconds more than his own record.
50 seconds afterwards, another Swiss, Werner Marti, crossed the finish line in second place, after leaving behind Thibault Anselmet, who crossed the finish line in third place. Federico Nicolini (ITA) and Christof Hochenwarter (AUT) closed the top five on the day.