Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego Preview
After a break of a few weeks the Valsir Mountain Running World Cup is back and this time it returns to Italy! This weekend the best mountain runners in the world will be heading to Casto in the north of Italy for Vertical Nasego and Trofeo Nasego as the World Cup competition really hots up!
On Saturday 2nd September the athletes will compete on the 4.3k Vertical Nasego course which packs in 1000m of ascent, making it our next vertical uphill race, then on Sunday 3rd the 21k Trofeo Nasego with 1330m of climb will provide the arena for our next long mountain race. Many runners will take on both races, which will ensure a great weekend of racing, with a lot of World Cup points on offer.
Valsir World Cup standings
The standard of the fields assembled for Vertical and Trofeo Nasego can be illustrated by the fact that 10 of the top 11 runners in the women’s World Cup and 9 of the top 15 in the men’s competition will be there. 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. See the World Cup calendar for full details.
Vertical Nasego
Starting in Casto, the runners 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 evenutal relief of the finish line.
Last year we saw a new men’s course record with Patrick Kipngeno (KEN) winning in 33.47. Andrea Mayr (AUT) won the women’s race in a time that was just outside her own course record of 39.39. This year these athletes return as not only defending champions but World Champions from Innsbruck. They are surely the athletes to beat here.
Women’s field
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 here. 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 certainly be tested by top competition. Philaries Kisang (KEN), who duelled with Mayr so memorably at the World Championships, and has had a run of impressive results
this year, will certainly be looking to challenge. Scout Adkin (GBR) finished second to Mayr at Piz Tri Vertical and at Challenge Stellina last weekend and is having a strong season. Anna Gibson (USA), winner of the Broken Arrow VK and third at Stellina will also be making her debut here. Madalina Florea (ROU) was last year’s runner-up here and recently showed that she isn’t afraid to throw down the gauntlet with that 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 well feature. The Kenyan runners Joyce Muthoni (our current leader in the World Cup) and Lucy Murigi are also expected to trouble the top ten. Other runners to watch include Julia Font (ESP), Susanna Saapunki (FIN) and the British contingent of Alice Goodall, Philippa Williams, Sara Willhoit and Holly Page.
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 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 (IRL) will return and Jacob Adkin (GBR), winner of last year’s Chiavenna Lagunc, will also start. 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.
Other runners who could feature in the men’s race include Timotej Beçan (SLO), Remi Leroux (CAN), Chris Richards (GBR), Alejandro Garcia Carrillo (ESP) and Alric Petit (FRA).
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 21.5k and mostly runnable course. From the start in Castro at 400m it climbs slowly for the first 6km, before flattening off for 6k, 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.
Women’s field
Muthoni may well 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 may 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 ten 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 ten 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 16k and many sub-ultra trail races.
Men’s field
This 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 Italian winners Xavier Chevrier and Cesare Maestri will be back and both are on form with recent top ten 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 (GBR) won this race in 2019 and returns, and fellow Brits Adkin, Richards and particularly Steward could feature. Other runners to watch in the men’s race include Becan, Lengen Lolkurraru (KEN), Ordrej Fejfar (CZE), Luciano Rota (ITA), Scott Maguire (CAN) and Chris Allen (USA).
How to follow the race
We are assured of two days of great mountain running in these historic Italian valleys.
Vertical Nasego starts on Saturday 2nd September at 10am for the women and 10.45am for the men.
Trofeo Nasego starts on Sunday at 9.30am for both men and women. See the full programme.
Find out more about the race at their website.
The organisers will be providing regular updates via their Instagram account. You can also follow the action on the WMRA social channels:
Applications for the Athletes Commission Candidacy will be accepted from 21st August 2023 to 21st September.
When Kiriago made his move it was decisive. He overtook Kipngeno with around 8km to go and he looked very strong. Kibet was still holding onto third and Cachard had by this point made his way up to fourth. Robbie Simpson (GBR) had also moved up through the field to eighth by now. We were on for a very exciting finish.
were all close together, with Pooley five minutes further back and Brinkman leading the chasing pack. McLaughlin had moved up into seventh by this point.
Sierre Zinal is an iconic race in so many ways. It was first run in 1974 and men and women have always raced over the same distance here. Over the years it has seen some epics duels between the greats of the sport, with the list of winners reading like an international who’s who of mountain running. But perhaps the most iconic aspect of all is the route.
combines great climbing ability (she won Zegama in 2022) with speed on the flat (her marathon PB is 2.22). Our runner-up from last year, Philaries Kisang (KEN) is having a great season with a second place in the uphill race at the World Championships, a second at La Montee du Nid d’Aigle and a third place at Fletta Trail. The runner-up from 2019, Judith Wyder (SUI), will also be on the start line, having recently won Dolomyths.
Philemon Kiriago (KEN) was 5th here last year and is having a very successful year, with a win at Fletta Trail and 2nd places at La Montee du Nid d’Aigle, Piz Tri Vertical and the classic race at the World Championships. Likewise Remi Bonnet (SUI) is in form, having won the Mont Blanc Marathon this year and placed 4th at Zegama. He was 8th here in 2022. Davide Magnini (ITA) was 5th at his last attempt at Sierre Zinal in 2021 and he’s had 2nd places at Mont Blanc and Zegama in the meantime, so could well be one to watch. Robert Pkemoi (KEN) will also be exciting to follow here, having finished 6th in 2022 and having also achieved a 5th place at Zegama this year.
Excitingly, Njeru and Kisang were neck-and-neck almost the whole race. Coming up to the timing point at the 12km point it was Kisang who just edged it, with a small lead of just 11 seconds over Njeru. At that point Saapunki was two and a half minutes behind them in third, with Murigi 90 seconds further back, then another 90 seconds to L’Hirondel. But we knew this could all change over the second half of the race.
The men’s race was quite different to the women’s in that Kipngeno opened a lead early on. By the timing point he had stretched out a lead of 2.20 over Kiriago in second. At the point it was an all-Kenyan top three with Kirui sitting 80 seconds behind Kiriago. But Chevrier and Angermund were right on Kirui’s heels and the main battle looked for third in the race.
This event is one of the oldest mountain races in France and it is marking its 36th edition this year. It is an integral part of the identity of Saint Gervais, with hundreds of spectators and volunteers welcoming the runners and making it a huge celebration.
the women’s World Cup rankings, alongside Scout Adkin (GBR) who will not be in Saint Gervais this weekend. Fellow Kenyan Lucy Murigi will be taking part and was the winner here in 2021, as well as coming fifth last year. She knows this course well and can never be discounted.
Zak Hanna (IRL) finished in 11th place here last year, so he knows the course, and he finished fourth in a very competitive Broken Arrow VK back in June. Joe Steward (GBR) had a good weekend in Malonno, finishing third in Piz Tri Vertical and eighth in Fletta Trail, as well as finishing eighth in the World Championships vertical uphill race, so he will be interesting to watch. Fellow British runner Jacob Adkin, the 2019 European Mountain Running champion, finished 10th here last year and could well improve on that this year. Ondrej Fejfar (CZE) achieved two top ten finishes at Broken Arrow this year and will be looking to his World Cup points tally, and Alric Petit (FRA), 14th at Fletta Trail and 25th here last year, could also feature on home turf.
Also on the start line were Elisa Sortini (ITA), 2020 winner; Sara Bottarelli (ITA), 2016 winner; Susanna Saapunki (FIN); Alessia Scaini (ITA); Norwegian Eli Anne Dvergsdal, former winner of Zegama; Vivien Bonzi (ITA); Andie Cornish (USA), Sarah Carter (USA), Lucy Murigi (KEN), Emma Clayton (GBR) and Maddalena Somà (ITA). This was quite some line-up!
Malonno. And the race for third was still very open with six athletes (Kisang, Florea, Adkin, Saapunki, Murigi and Bottarelli) still very much in with a chance. 
From the start Kiriago seemed determined to better his second place from 2022 and he struck out in the lead. But try as he might the gap to the next few places remained narrow for the first half of the race. He was chased hard by Abraham, Cachard, and then an ever-changing group close together including Steward, Maestri, Filosi and Rota. At this point it seemed as though the men’s and women’s races were playing out in a similar way and it was all going to come down to that long, fast downhill to Malonno.
But the depth of the women’s field was such that any number of runners could have made that podium. Scout Adkin (GBR) was coming into the race straight off a 
Last year’s runner-up, Philemon Kiriago (KEN), who was seventh in the recent vertical uphill race at the World Championships, and took silver in the classic race there, would certainly be a runner to watch. But with a field that also included Henri Aymonod of Italy, (third at the Broken Arrow VK, third here last year), Joe Steward of Great Britan (tenth in the uphill race at the World Championships), Timotej Becan (SLO), Filimon Abraham (GER) and Sylvain Cachard (FRA), this was going to be quite a race.
By the end of this weekend, which is a double header in Malonno with Fletta Trail tomorrow, we may well see some big changes in the World Cup standings. After today’s race the main changes are that Scout Adkin is now in the joint lead with Anna Gibson in the women’s competition with 90 points, and Andrea Rostan moves into the lead in the men’s competition with 75 points. Henri Aymonod loses his lead but remains in a close second. Joyce Njeru moves up to third place and Andrea Mayr ties on 50 points with Allie McLaughlin and Sara Willhoit, while Kipngeno starts his World Cup campaign to tie with Alexandre Ricard and Eli Hemming on 50 points. But everything could change after Fletta Trail tomorrow!
In the women’s race there will be a rematch of the recent World Championships duel between Philaries Kisang (KEN) and Andrea Mayr (AUT). Will we see another incredibly close race, as we did in Innsbruck? Or will Mayr’s knowledge of this course and how to execute the perfect race here – she is a five-time winner and record holder (37.20) – make her unbeatable?
Arrow VK a month ago. But the unstoppable newly crowned World Champion of the short uphill race, Patrick Kipngeno (KEN) certainly won’t take it easy on him. Just as hotly tipped will be Henri Aymonod (ITA), the short uphill king. Timotej Becan (SLO) was fourth here in 2021 and 2022. Can he go one better and get on the podium?
In the women’s race Joyce Njeru, current course record holder (1.38.44) and champion in 2021, will be back to race the champion of 2022, Andrea Mayr! But as with the previous day of racing, there is huge depth in this field. Philaries Kisang is new to the race but will definitely be one to watch, as will Scout Adkin. Other women doubling up at Piz Tri Vertical and Fletta Trail include Vivien Bonzi, Andie Cornish, Sarah Carter, Lucy Murigi, Emma Clayton and Maddalena Somà. 
set in 2019) will be Cesare Maestri (ITA) but two athletes who will no doubt be snapping at their heels are Philemon Kiriago and Philimon Abraham. As the silver and bronze medallists respectively in the classic race in the recent World Championships, and in Kiriago’s case defending champion of Fletta Trail, they are expected to challenge. 
With its breathtaking landscapes, challenging terrains, and world-class hospitality, Madeira serves as the perfect backdrop for this thrilling competition. Renowned for its rugged mountains, stunning vistas, and lush greenery, Madeira promises an unforgettable experience for participants and spectators alike.
strength and determination. Participants will navigate through the island’s awe-inspiring landscapes, showcasing both their endurance and technical skills.
The races are open to all runners between 35 and 79 years of age and are organised by the World Mountain Running Association in collaboration with the Madeira Athletics Association.