Kipngeno to defend Vertical and Trofeo Nasego titles

Defending champions Patrick Kipngeno and Andrea Mayr return to the Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego, the latest gold label events in the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup, in Italy this weekend.

On Saturday (2) athletes will compete on the 4.3km Vertical Nasego course, which packs in 1000m of ascent, making it the next vertical uphill race in the World Cup series. Then, on Sunday (3), the 21km Trofeo Nasego with 1330m of climb will provide the arena for the next long mountain race.

The standard of the fields assembled for Vertical and Trofeo Nasego are illustrated by the fact that 10 of the top 11 runners in the women’s World Cup and nine of the top 15 in the men’s competition will be in action. This weekend could have a major impact on the final World Cup standings, with just two races at Canfranc-Canfranc and three races at Sky Gran Canaria to go.

Vertical Nasego

Starting in Casto, athletes will begin climbing on roads and good trails before the really hard work begins and the path becomes steeper and more technical as it winds its way painfully to the eventual relief of the finish line.

Last year Kenya’s Kipngeno won in a men’s course record of 33:47. Austria’s Mayr won the women’s race in a time that was just outside her own course record of 39:39. This year the pair return as not only defending champions, but also as world champions from Innsbruck. They are surely the athletes to beat.

Mayr will stand on the start line with a number of Vertical Nasego accolades to her name. She was not only the winner here in 2019 (setting the course record), 2021 and 2022, but she is the only woman to have run under 40 minutes. She is clearly in form this year, with wins at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships and Piz Tri Vertical, so could we see her breaking her own course record?

She will be tested by top competition. Kenya’s Philaries Kisang, who dueled with Mayr so memorably at the World Championships and has had a run of impressive results this year, will be looking to challenge. Scout Adkin finished second to Mayr at Piz Tri Vertical and at Challenge Stellina last weekend, and is having a strong season. Anna Gibson, winner of the Broken Arrow VK and third at Stellina, will also be making her debut here. Madalina Florea was last year’s runner-up and recently showed that she isn’t afraid to throw down the gauntlet with a gutsy run at Sierre Zinal.

There is huge depth in the Italian field for the women. Valentina Belotti is a three-time winner of Vertical Nasego, and Camilla Magliano, Dimitra Teocharis and Elisa Compagnoni could feature. The Kenyan runners Joyce Muthoni (current leader in the World Cup) and Lucy Murigi are also expected to trouble the top 10. Other runners to watch include Julia Font, Susanna Saapunki and the British contingent of Alice Goodall, Philippa Williams, Sara Willhoit and Holly Page.

In the men’s field, Kipngeno does appear to be unbeatable in uphill-only races, but this year has shown that if anybody can challenge him it’s his fellow Kenyan Philemon Kiriago. Sierre Zinal showed that while Kipngeno dominates the ascent, he is beatable where there is a downhill element. So Kiriago may have a stronger chance on Sunday, but it should still be an interesting battle in the vertical race.

The Italian field is very strong, with Henri Aymonod and Andrea Rostan, who both featured on the podium at the Broken Arrow VK this year, as well as other uphill specialists Tiziano Moia, Andrea Elia, Luciano Rota, Micheal Galassi, Matteo Eydallin, Luca Cagnati and Isacco Costa.

Last year’s runner-up Zak Hanna will return and Jacob Adkin, winner of last year’s Chiavenna Lagunc, also starts. His fellow Brit, Joe Steward, is having a breakthrough season, having won Challenge Stellina last weekend and finished third at Piz Tri Vertical in July. He could well be one to watch.

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Other runners who could feature include Timotej Becan, Remi Leroux, Chris Richards, Alejandro Garcia Carrillo and Alric Petit.

Trofeo Nasego

This will be the 22nd edition of Trofeo Nasego and year on year the field just keeps getting better. In what has become a classic of the mountain running circuit, the runners will take on a 21.5km and mostly runnable course. From the start in Castro at 400m it climbs slowly for the first 6km, before flattening off for 6km, then comes the big climb up to Rifugio Nasego at 1311m, before a frantic descent down to Famea for the finish.

Last year’s winners, Mayr and Kipngeno, will also be back to defend their titles for a second day in a row. But both are sure to be pushed by a stellar field.

Muthoni could be the athlete with the strongest score to settle for the women. Having finished second here last year and fourth in 2021, and after a recent win at Fletta Trail and a second place at Sierre Zinal, she may well feel that her time has come to stamp her authority on this race. Florea too could feel that her time has come, after a fourth place here last year.

But they will face stern competition from very much in-form athletes Kisang and Adkin. Magliano has also achieved sixth and seventh place finishes here, on top of a consistent string of top 10 finishes in World Cup races over the last three years. Consistency is also Murigi’s middle name, and she won here in 2019 and has finished top 10 subsequently.

Gibson’s debut here will be exciting to watch and the depth of the women’s field really is incredible. Italian runners include Vivien Bonzi, Beatrice Bianchi and the more experienced Alice Gaggi and Sara Bottarelli. Strong British talent includes Willhoit, Page, Williams, Kirsty Dickson, Naomi Lang and the hotly tipped Goodall. Lastly, Font could also feature, having had some strong results at the Canfranc-Canfranc 16km and many sub-ultra trail races.

The men’s race is expected to be a battle between Kiriago and Kipngeno, as we saw at Sierre Zinal, but there are many runners who could rewrite this narrative.

The home crowd would love to see an Italian victory again. Former winners Xavier Chevrier and Cesare Maestri will be back and both are on form with recent top 10 finishes in both the World Championships and Sierre Zinal. Aymonod and Rostan could also put up a strong challenge, particularly with the added motivation of adding important points to their World Cup standings.

But competition will also come from Spanish athlete Garcia Carrillo, who beat both Chevrier and Maestri at the World Championships. Andrew Douglas won this race in 2019 and returns, and fellow Brits Adkin, Richards and particularly Steward could feature. Other runners to watch include Becan, Lengen Lolkurraru, Ordrej Fejfar, Luciano Rota, Scott Maguire and Chris Allen.