PWT Italia’s 37th Italian elite title, dedicated to the Team Manager

Lago Santo (Cembra, Trento) — The weekend of the Italian Long Distance and Relay Championships has come to a close, one of the season’s key events for our team. Confirming our title as Italian champions is always one of the main goals of the year, and once again the team rose to the occasion.

Taking to the start line: Sebastian Inderst, Jessica Lucchetta, Fabio Amadesi, Annarita Scalzotto, Lukas Patscheider, Guenda Zaffanella, Pierantonio Pretto, Caterina Dallera, Niccolò Debertolis, Celeste Pretto and Sibiglia Katiuscia, all ready to give their best.

Saturday: an elite podium in the long distance

Among the day’s standout results was a superb elite podium for Jessica Lucchetta (2nd) and Caterina Dallera (3rd), who held their own in the long race, nearly 10 km with 500 m of climb. The result also bears the mark of technical coach Svetlana Mironova, who has worked closely with the whole team throughout this phase of the season.

End-of-season setbacks

Not everyone, however, can look back on a positive weekend. After all, it’s the end of the season, and accumulated fatigue is taking its toll.

Bad luck struck first for Sebastian Inderst, who suffered an ankle injury in the opening stretch of Saturday’s long race. The diagnosis: a hairline fracture of the fibula and a ligament tear — a tough blow, especially since Sebastian had been preparing for the European Championships in Lithuania at the end of September. The silver lining, in his own words? More time to spend with Alvin, the newest member of the family.

Guenda Zaffanella also had to contend with an injury: tendon inflammation that made the race extremely painful, though she gritted her teeth and finished it anyway. Because of the pain, Guenda had to give up her spot on the first team for Sunday’s relay.

Sunday: the relay

Despite the bumps and bruises, the team didn’t back down, and Sunday arrived right on schedule. The line-ups, reshuffled following the last-minute injuries, were as follows:

  • Women’s Elite: Annarita Scalzotto, Caterina Dallera, Jessica Lucchetta
  • Men’s Elite: Fabio Amadesi, Lukas Patscheider, Pierantonio Pretto
  • Women’s Elite 2: Celeste Pretto, Sibiglia Katiuscia
  • Open: Niccolò Debertolis

The women’s elite team claimed the title of Italian Relay Champions for the second year in a row. After a solid opening leg from Annarita, Caterina felt the fatigue and made a few too many mistakes, but nothing that Jessica couldn’t make up for with a strong final leg, bringing the team back into the lead.

A wonderful result for the whole team, closing out a demanding weekend marked by podiums, injuries, and plenty of determination.

The women’s elite team claimed the title of Italian Relay Champions for the second year in a row — the 37th Elite national title won by PWT Italia. After a solid opening leg from Annarita, Caterina felt the fatigue and made a few too many mistakes, but nothing that Jessica couldn’t make up for with a strong final leg, bringing the team back into the lead.

The team chose to dedicate this win to a difficult moment of its own: “We wanted this win for our team manager, Gabriele Viale, who recently lost his father and could not be here with us. We’d also like to send a heartfelt good-luck message to Seba Inderst, who suffered a serious injury yesterday in the Long and had to end his season early.”

The whole team would like to thank Svetlana Mironova for her invaluable and much-appreciated support, and team manager Gabriele Viale, who makes it possible for us to do what we love without having to give anything up in return.