The FISO Italian Cup stages take place on Monte Baldo: Dallavalle and Pradel won the Middle Distance, while Mariani and De Biasi won the Long Distance.
Fourteen hundred orienteers with map and compass in hand challenged each other over the middle and long distances.
The event took place between the Veronese municipalities of Brenzone sul Garda and San Zeno di Montagna.
The 1,400 athletes from 14 countries demonstrated the growing popularity of the international meeting within the orienteering community. The 2 Days Lake Garda – Monte Baldo event took place over the weekend on the Gardesane Pre-Alps massif, with its incredible natural terrace overlooking Lake Garda. Roberto Dallavalle and Anna Pradel, as well as Francesco Mariani and Maddalena De Biasi, were crowned the winners of the fourth and fifth stages of the FISO Italian Cup, respectively.
The high-altitude races, organised by PWT Italia in partnership with FISO (Federazione Italiana Sport Orientamento) and in collaboration with Funivie del Baldo, Funivia Prada Costabella, ASD Orient Express Verona, and with the support of the municipalities of Brenzone sul Garda and San Zeno di Montagna, saw the orienteers working out the best strategy with the help of a compass to find the fastest route to reach the control points in sequence, as marked on the topographical map provided at the start. The champions were presented with their awards by Alfio Giomi (National President of FISO), Pier Giorgio Schena (President of Funivie del Baldo), Maurizio Castellani (Mayor of San Zeno di Montagna), Adriano Formaggioni (Councillor Delegate for the Mountain Area of Brenzone sul Garda) and event manager Gabriele Viale.
THE RESULTS OF THE MIDDLE DISTANCE
Stage 1, Prada Costabella – Monte Baldo, took place at the spectacular Prada overlook, 1,550 metres above sea level. The course was set in open alpine pasture terrain with stony areas and small valleys perpendicular to the slope. Roberto Dallavalle (Gronalit Or. Team) won the men’s Middle Distance stage in 26:22, demonstrating significant physical superiority by finishing over three minutes ahead of Enrico Mannocci (Pol. G. Masi). Samuele Tait (Gronalit Or. Team) was third to cross the finish line, with a time of 29:42. In the women’s category, Anna Pradel (U.S. Primiero) dominated in a thrilling duel, finishing just a few seconds ahead of Christine Kirchlechner (Sportclub Meran) in 29:49. The bronze medal went to Japan’s Hinako Inabe (Nerima OLC), who crossed the finish line in 31:25.
“My form continues to be good. I felt good and started off in a controlled manner, respecting my rhythm,” said Dallavalle from Trentino. ‘As I became more familiar with the terrain, I started to push harder. Despite making a few small mistakes due to uncertainty, I am satisfied with my performance,” he said.
“I am really happy with the victory,” said Pradel, “and especially with having competed for the first time since my injury without pain. It is always nice to race in open terrain similar to the places where I train.”
THE RESULTS OF THE LONG DISTANCE
In Stage 2 of the Prada Pralongo – Monte Baldo race, the long-distance event took place in an excellent visibility mixed beech forest at an altitude between 1,200 and 1,300 metres above sea level. The course wound through an intricate maze of depressions and irregular ground movements, offering great technical and competitive value. The battle for first place among the men was between Francesco Mariani (Pol. G. Masi) and Marton Csoboth of the Hungarian Junior National Team. Mariani won by two seconds, with a time of 1:25:48. Roberto Dallavalle (1:29:27) was unable to secure a one-two finish, but still managed to climb onto the third step of the podium, as did Pradel among the women in 1:42:30. Maddalena De Biasi (Or. Tarzo) dominated the women’s classification in 1:37:44, chased by Eszter Golda (Hungarian Junior National Team) in 1:42:12.
“A small injury in the final almost compromised the victory, but I managed it,’ commented the Umbrian Mariani. ‘Now we enter the highlight of the season: the Jukola in Finland next weekend, followed by the World Cup in Sweden and the World Championships in Finland again. It’s a summer full of commitments.”
“At this stage, my training focuses on sprint races, so I am satisfied with my performance in the long-distance forest race,’ said De Biasi from Veneto. ‘My physical preparation has helped me, despite some mistakes in judgement. I will now take a week off and then give my all in the World Championships.”
“With 1,400 orienteers from 14 countries taking part in the 2 Days Lake Garda – Monte Baldo event at the start of the weekend, we are concluding a three-year project to establish the Verona area as a sports tourism destination for orienteering enthusiasts,” said Gabriele Viale. The event manager continued, ‘We started from the experience of the 2023 European Championships, with which we created the prerequisites for the continuous development of orienteering on Mount Baldo in a pioneering way, creating a mapping area thanks to the willingness shown by the local administrations and Funivie del Baldo. This area has much to offer our discipline, both nationally and internationally, thanks to its technicality and unique location.
A TRIBUTE TO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT EUGENIO TURRI
As part of the two-day event, the memory of the renowned landscape architect was honoured at the Mondini Refuge with a conference titled ‘Orienteering and Cartography in the Land of Eugenio Turri’. Turri, who authored the 1973 book ‘Il Monte Baldo’, recounted ‘the mountain of the Veronese’ in 360°. Those attending the meeting included Maurizio Marogna, author of the recently published book Monte Baldo: Escursioni tra natura e storia (Mount Baldo: Excursions between nature and history); Alfio Giomi, President of FISO; Augusto Cavazzani, a FISO cartographer; and Remo Nardini of 4Land, who presented the updated topographic map of the area. The Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement at the University of Verona also conducted a study to measure and examine the physical and cognitive abilities of elite orienteering athletes.