Johnny Cattaneo won La Pedaleda mountain bike marathon

Johnny Cattaneo won the 17th La Pedaleda, Livigno’s sunny mountain bike marathon. Mike Felderer and Julio Caro Silvia came on second and third place among over 450 competitors. Michela Benzoni dominated the Women category.

To get the all highlights in moving pictures, please take a look on: www.watch26.tv/video/3533 or www.pinkbike.com/video/155729

The forecasts for the men’s race have been proven false. Mike Felderer – who lead the La Pedaleda Tour races in the previous days – had to slow down because of mechanical problems. So Johnny Cattaneo, Felderer’s teammate, could keep the head of the top group since the middle section of the race. The Full Dynamix team rider ended up first (3:43.49,4 minutes) finishing six minutes faster than last year.
Cattaneo explains his strategy: “The La Pedaleda is known to be a hard race. This is the reason why I kept calm on the competitions over the past days. This is one of the few marathons that celebrates the most comprehensive racer – and not necessarily the strongest one.”

Second place went to Mike Felderer that ended the race with 3:48.39,3 minutes, despite mechanical problems. However it has been a missed chance for Felderer, who on previous days proved to be in top form. Julio Caro Silvia, member of the TX Active-Bianchi team, placed third (3:49.33,1 minutes). On the last uphill section, he was able to leave Massimo De Bertolis and Uwe Hochenwarter (4th and 5th respectively) behind.
Full Dynamix Team Captain Mauro Bettin has been very satisfied. Thanks to the first and second place at La Pedaleda, his team is obviously well prepared for the Marathon MTB World Championships. All eyes at Full Dynamix are now also on Tony Longo, who will take part in the Cross Country World Championships at Mont Sainte Anne, Canada. Tenth place (3:58.36,1 minutes) went to Mattia Longa. This Livigno local once more confirmed that he is one of Italy’s best junior marathon mountain bikers.

The women’s race has been dominated since the start by Michela Benzoni (Lissone MTB Team). Benzoni, along with Felderer, also won the King of the Mountain Grand Prix, located at 27 kilomters milestone of the Passo D’Eira and which is dedicated to Andreas Cusini. Both, Michaela and Mike, were also the winners of the overall La Pedaleda Tour ranking.
The second woman crossing the finishing line, eight minutes after the winner, was last year’s gold medalist Anna Ferrari (4:59.01,0 minutes). Sandra Klomp, originally Dutch but now living in Italy, got third (5:08.19,1 minutes).

The shorter, 40-km “Point to Point” race was won by Stefano Dal Grande (ASD Basalti) (2:14.39,2 minutes), followed by cross-country skiing athlete Roberto De Zolt (2:21.37,5 minutes) and Filippo Sensoli (2:22.28,7 minutes, third place).
There was less competition among women in the the 40-km track length: Beatrice Mistretta conquered the first place (3:04.22,2 minutes), followed by Nicoletta Meli (3:12.43,2 minutes) and Paola Brazioli (3:14.24,9 minutes). A special highlight for the visitors were Davide and Silvia Marini, who competed on a tandem bike and finished the 40 kilometers after 4:17.48,1 minutes.

The 2010 la Pedaleda proved to be a big success thanks to the nice, sunny weather, as well as to the great efforts by the organizers and by all the volunteers along the track. More than 450 bikers were on the start line. Most of them are taking part in the Off Road Cup Feel The Alps 2010 – http://www.offroadcup.it – with eight stages, La Pedaleda being the 7th.

The Top10 results of the La Pedaleda Marathon:

MEN:
1. Cattaneo 3:43.49,4 TEAM FULL-DYNAMIX
2. Felderer Mike 3:48.39,3 FULL-DYNAMIX
3. Caro Silvia Julio Humerto 3:49.33,1 TX ACTIVE BIANCHI
4. De Bertolis Massimo 3:50.41,0 TEAM FULL-DYNAMIX
5. Hochenwarter Uwe 3:52.33,7 MUSKEL-KATER.AT
6. Bianchi Ramon 3:53.04,7 SCOTT R.T.A.S.D.
7. Costa Walter 3:54.22,6 SCAPIN TORREVILLA MTB ASD
8. Cominelli Cristian 3:55.01,4 TX ACTIVE BIANCHI
9. Botero Salazar Jairo 3:56.31,0 SCAPIN TORREVILLA MTB ASD
10. Longa Mattia 3:58.36,1 CLUB LOMBARDIA TEAM

WOMEN
1. Benzoni Michela 4:50.48,2 LISSONE MTB ASD
2. Ferrari Anna 4:59.01,0 ELETTROVENETA-CORRATEC
3. Klomp Sandra 5:08.19,1 NSR TORREVILLA MTB TEMA
4. Mazzucotelli Simona 5:09.56,7 G.S. MASSI’ SUPERMERCATI
5. Roberti Cristina 5:17.47,6 A.S.D. CICLI TADDEI TEAM GALLUZZI
6. Palfrader Sarah 5:35.06,3 CLUB LOMBARDIA TEAM
7. Mancini Lucia 5:37.47,2 A.S.D. CICLISSIMO BIKE
8. Mandelli Chiara 5:39.21,5 BREMBER VALLEY
9. Kerschbaumer Verena 5:44.25,5 TEAM GREEN VALLEY
10. Etossi Simona 6:03.43,0 HR TEAM BORTOLAMI

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