With the men’s top three of the previous edition – Mattia Ceccarelli, Thomas Steger and Frederic Funk – racing again, CHALLENGE RICCIONE is preparing for a thrilling race. This Sunday it’s hammer time and not only the men, but also the women can count on a tough battle. One of the biggest favorites may be the Dutch Sarissa de Vries, who became second at ANFI CHALLENGE MOGAN-GRANCANARIA just two weeks ago.
Despite the fact that the entire top three of last year’s men’s race is returning, most eyes will probably be on the German Sebastian Kienle. The former World Champion returns after a long period of injury and will undoubtedly be eager to claim victory. Pablo Dapena Gonzalez will also be at the start of CHALLENGE RICCIONE: the Spaniard finished a strong second place at CHALLENGE MOGAN-GRANCANARIA and showed that he has regained his strong form. On paper, these two men are probably the biggest favorites for the win in Riccione.
While Ceccarelli, Steger and Funk will of course do everything they can to get back on the podium this year, they can also expect competition from strong athletes such as Guilio Molinari, Andi Boecherer, Ruedi Wild and Michael Raelert. Pieter Heemeryck will also be racing. The Belgian top athlete has had a somewhat difficult time in recent months, falling short a number of times at CHALLENGE DAYTONA and ANFI CHALLENGE MOGAN-GRANCANARIA for example, but he is still considered one of the most dangerous men on the Middle Distance and therefore one of the biggest contenders for victory.
Much is expected from young and Dutch Sarissa de Vries In the women’s race, much is expected of Sarissa de Vries. The Dutch athlete may still be young, but she has already shown during various races that she can keep up with the high level and two weeks ago she surpassed herself with a beautiful second place during ANFI CHALLENGE MOGAN-GRANCANARIA. During that race she beat Lisa Nordén after a very tough head-to-head battle during the run.
There are of course other athletes willing to give it their all, for example the Belgian Alexandra Tondeur. Unlike De Vries, Tondeur has a lot of experience and that is perhaps her greatest strength: she knows exactly what to expect from such a race, will not panic easily and knows how to push herself to the limit to finish as good as possible. The same goes for Laura Zimmermann and Carolin Lehrieder: the two German ladies have the lowest bib numbers, as they are considered big favorites and have a serious chance of claiming the gold medal.
MALE PRO:
1 KIENLE SEBASTIAN GER
2 CECCARELLI MATTIA ITA
3 MOLINARI GIULIO ITA
4 DAPENA GONALE PABLO ESP
5 STEGER THOMAS AUT
6 HEEMERYK PETER BEL
7 BOECHERER ANDI FRA
8 FUNK FREDERIC GER
9 WILD RUEDI SUI
10 RAELERT MICHAEL GER
11 PASSUELLO DOMENICO ITA
12 BARNABY GREGORY ITA
13 FONTANA MATTEO ITA
14 BAPTISTE NEVEU FRA
15 COLINO CALOMARDE JOAN ESP
16 CSOKE BALAZS SUI
18 DAVIS THOMAS GBR
19 DE VROET MATTHEW ESP
20 DIEMUNSCH ETIENNE FRA
21 ELOI JULIEN FRA
22 ENGELHARDT ADRIANO SUI
23 ERHARDT JULIAN GER
24 GOETSTOUWERS STENN BEL
25 HAMMERLE MAXIMILIAN AUT
26 HOFFMANN JONAS GER
27 JACOBI ERWAN FRA
28 JAIS CHRISTIAN GER
29 KALISTRATOV ALEKSEY RUS
30 KOCAR LUK¦S CZE
31 KOVACIC JAROSLAV SLO
32 KUNZELMANN LOZA MARCHE GER
33 KÖHN SILAS GER
34 MECHIN ANTOINE FRA
35 MENNESSON WILLIAM FRA
36 ROTHER DAVID GER
37 RUNDSTADLER KEVIN FRA
38 SERRAPICA RAPHA FRA
39 VAN VLERKEN PER GER
40 VISTICA ANDREJ CRO
41 PERA MAURO ITA
42 RECAGNO ANDREA ITA
43 BRUHIN SILVAN SUI
FEMALE PRO:
51 ZIMMERMANN LAURA GER
52 LEHRIEDER CAROLIN GER
53 TONDEUR ALEXANDRA BEL
54 BERNARDI MARTA ITA
55 DE VRIES SARISSA NED
56 SINAY ALENA ITA
57 LEE INDIA GBR
58 NEC LAPINOVA KRISTINA SVK
59 MATHIEUX JUSTINE FRA
60 KRIVANKOVA SIMONA CZE
61 BERLINGER LENA GER
62 BOTTI RACHELE SUI
63 DORNAUER LISA-MARIA AUT
64 IEMMOLO JULIE FRA
65 OBMANN GABRIELE MARIA AUT
66 TUIN MARION NED
67 ZANE ILARIA ITA