Very well deserved day of rest for the 2015 Tor des Géants Finisher who spent their day in Courmayeur.
At 5pm, the group of athletes gathered near the starting line for a parade of all the Finisher downtown Courmayeur in order to, finally, get them all under the finish line, as a symbol of this difficult and truly hard edition of Tor. After crossing the finish line, athletes proceeded towards the Forum Sport Center of Dolonne where the ice rink was set with another red carpet for the Award Ceremony.Awards were given to all the winners in all the categories and the Finisher T-shirt was given to all the Finisher (that, as usual, they will wear proudly until the next February 1st, when the inscriptions for Tor 2016 will be opened).Tonight, there will be a surprise buffet, a kind of conclusive pasta party, offered from the Organization, before the ritual goodbyes to all the new friends met on the Tor paths. Arrancabirra (which will be on 10/10 in order to celebrate its 10th edition) will be the next meeting point for most of them!
The male podium had on his higher step the French Giant Patrick Bohard, who finished his Tor in 80h and 20 minutes. Behind him, Gianluca Galeati ( Italy, 80h, 44 minutes) and then the French Christophe Le Saux.
As far as women ranking is concerned, the Queen of 2015 Tor is the Swiss Denise Zimmermann, followed by the Italian Lisa Borzani and, in third place, by Marina Plavan.
As usual, a podium reserved to the Valle d’Aosta people. First woman is Sara Perin, while first three men are Giancarlo Annovazzi, Mario Stevenin and Abele Blanc.
Casio Protrek decided to give a special award to Lucio Trucco, 44 years old, Alpine Guide from Cervinia and member of the Alpine Rescue Team. As a member of the Safety Team of the organization, he digged more than a thousands steps in the snow of Col Loson in order to allow every runner to make it safely up and down from the 3.300 meters of the “Roof of Tor”. Then, he put shavings on the paths to reduce the danger of slippery and he personal assisted athletes who were in difficulties. "My final aim was to allow them to proceed and to keep chasing their Giant dream” he said. “ Hugs and thanks of the runners were my best reward.”
Ph: Enrico Romanzi