January 25, 2010 (Lienz, Austria) – Fabio Santus (Ita) won the men’s 36th annual Dolomitenlauf 42km Freestyle, the 3rd event of the FIS Marathon Cup, with a time of 1:43:171. Due to poor snow conditions in the valley of Lienz the race had to be carried out in the mountains in Obertilliach where the classic race took place on Saturday.

The race was exciting and tight until very last moment. Two kilometers before finish the Italians and Germans were fighting for victory. In the end it was Italy’s Santus who had the strongest sprint in last meters to take the win over Germany’s Tobias Angerer in second and Thomas Freimuth in third.

Italian success was further underlined by Marco Cattaneo’s 4th place result and Bruno Carrara finishing as 6th. The German team is preparing for the 2010 Olympics in nearby Toblach and took the opportunity to participate in Dolomitenlauf. Conditions were ideal and the 1,000 participants from 28 nations participated. American Joshua Smith (Ski Club Vail) placed 36th overall, in a time of 1:52:53.5.

Jenny Hansson (SWE) dominated the women`s race winning in 1:56:15 over Natascia Leonardi from Switzerland, who lost over two minutes to Hansson. Estonia’s Tatjana Mannima completed the podium, with a time of 2:03:13.

In the 25km event, Südtirol’s Saskia Santer won the women’s race while the men’s victory went to Viktor Novotny of the Czech Republic. The traditional Dolomitenlauf is a 42km long freestyle race, but organizers are planning to change it to a classic.

Full results (men-women combined) here.

Results (brief)

Men
1. Fabio Santus (ITA) 1:43:17.15
2. Tobias Angerer (GER) 1:43:20.93
3. Thomas Freimuth (GER) 1:43.21.12
4. Marco Cattaneo (ITA) 1:43:21.14
5. Petr Novak (CZE) 1:43:22.14

Women
1. Jenny Hansson (SWE) 1:56:15.28
2. Natascha Leonardi (SUI) 1:58:54.6
3. Tatjana Mannima (ETS) 2:03:13.9
4. Evgina Kurochkina (RUS) 2:04:19.52
5. Maija Oravamaki (FIN) 2:06:04.17

North American Results

36. Joshua Smith (USA) 1:52:53.5
128. Bill Bothe (USA) 2:20:15,1
146. Rene Dufour (CAN) 2:22:15,85
192. Jean-Sebastien Thibault (CAN) 2:28:59,95
277. David Spencer (USA) 2:43:43,37
370. (W) Bents Angelique (USA) 3:12:22,39
373. Larry Larson (USA) 3:14.22.14
382. (W) Suzanne Spencer (USA) 3:17:45.74
401.Josef Sehnal (USA) 3:26:26.52
419. Joseph Glaccum (USA) 3:37:29.1