Stefano Baldini wins in Trento, Italy (© Zorzi)
One month and a half after his win in Athens and with only few training sessions since, Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini on Saturday night (9 Oct) strode to victory in the Giro al Sas, an historic road race in Trento. He won with a large advantage over Ethiopia's Meba Tadesse, the World Junior Cross Country champion, and Ukraine's Vasiliy Matviychuk.
Historic run
The name "Giro al Sas" is how the citizens of Trento describe a typical walk in the centre of the city. The lap is 1091 metres long and the top athletes have to repeat it 10 times – 10.9km the total distance. The race is one of the oldest in Italy, as the first edition was held in 1907.
After the World War Two, this was the 58th edition (only the 1994 edition was not held). Paul Tergat and Kenenisa Bekele are among the past winners, in addition to some of the best Italian runners, like 1987 World Steeplechase champion Francesco Panetta, and Gianni Demadonna, who today organises the race.
Busy schedule
Baldini has had a ceaseless round of public appearances since his Olympic win. The last of these had been from Friday to Wednesday in Namibia, after which he returned to attend press conferences for the Giro al Sas last Thursday and the Milan City Marathon on Friday.
"However, after Scicli (10km Sunday 27 – finished 2nd to Sihine - click here for report) I have been able to run every day and twice I have done some speed work, with one hour of good running and then twenty minutes of fartlek, alternating 1 minute fast and 1 minute slow," Baldini said after the race. "So I was kind of ready for a race like this, but I did not expect to run so fine."
When Matviychuk took the lead after a very slow first lap, Baldini moved up to join him at the top of the pack. Just a little before halfway Kenya's Paul Kanda make the first serious move and the athletes in the first group become just four. In addition to Baldini, Tadesse and Kanda, a big surprise was New Zealand's Jonathan Wyatt, the four-time World Mountain Running champion. Wyatt won the last title a month ago in Sauze d'Oulx (Piemonte, Italy), few days after placing 21st in the Olympic marathon. Matviychuk was adrift from the group at this point.
Fluent acceleration
With exactly two laps to go Baldini started his own move and his acceleration was unbelievably fluent. In just one lap he put some fifteen seconds between him and Tadesse, while Kanda and Wyatt lost even more ground. "I knew I would have to push hard before the last lap, as the Ethiopian is strong in the sprint," Baldini said.
Baldini closed out with a time of 31:21, 19 seconds ahead of Tadesse. For the last place on the podium, Wyatt slowed down in the last lap and was overtaken by Matviychuk, who confirmed himself as a very good finisher.
Italy's Giuliano Battocletti, who was born not far from Trento and so was the most applauded home runner, closed very well, taking 5th place, ahead of Kanda and an off-form Paul Kosgei, the 2002 World Half Marathon champion and the World record holder for the 25 km (1:12:45 in Berlin last April).
Ottavio Andriani, who was running his last race before the New York City Marathon where he aims to improve on last year's 6th place, was 9th. Matviychuk will also run in New York, and it will be his debut at the distance. His last test will be next week’s Italian Marathon in Carpi, which he is going to pace until 25-30 km.
The end of a magical 2004 in Bolzano
Now Baldini is going to take a week of complete rest at home. His next race will be on the last day of 2004 at the Boclassic in Bolzano. Then he will restart training for a spring marathon.
"In few days my ‘Dream Team’ and I will meet in order to decide where I will run," Baldini said. The Dream Team includes his coach Luciano Gigliotti, his manager Gianni Demadonna, doctor Pierluigi Fiorella and physioterapist Daniele Parazza. The choice will be among two marathons: London and Boston.
Alberto Zorzi for the IAAF
Selected Results
Men's race (10.9 km)
1. Stefano Baldini (ITA) 31:21.1
2. Meba Tadesse (ETH) 31:40.7
3. Vasiliy Matviychuk (UKR) 31:48.6
4. Jonathan Wyatt (NZL) 31:52.7
5. Giuliano Battocletti (ITA) 32:00.9
6. Paul Kanda (KEN) 32:03.1
7. Paul Kosgei (KEN) 32:06.9
8. John Ngeno (KEN) 32:10.1
9. Ottavio Andriani (ITA) 32:14.1
10. Solomon Rotich (KEN) 32:16.5
