20TH OCTOBER 2024, 23.5KM, 1,400M V+ Ascona-Locarno, Switzerland Elhousine Elazzaoui wins the Grand Final and takes the Golden Trail World Series title.
Untouchable!
This year, after three wins in the regular season,the Moroccan Elhousine Elazzaoui (MAR – Nnormal) has just clinched the GTWS title by winning the Grand Final after an epic battle with Rémi Bonnet.
"I'm so happy, this is my dream come true! I've been wanting to win the GTWS for 5 years, and this year I announced that I was really going to do it, so I was under a bit of pressure. But I did it! I was really confident in the downhill and I knew I could go for victory. I'd like to thank all the spectators who urged me on and gave me their full support."
Rémi Bonnet (CHE – Salomon/Red Bull) gave it his all today, even attacking on the first big descent, even though his specialty is uphill racing. Nevertheless, he had to bow out to Elhousine on the final descent. "I gave it my all today! I stuck to my strategy, which was to make the race harder on the big climb so that they’d have to push hard before going even harder on the climb. It worked because the Kenyans dropped back, but Elhousine was too strong. I'm really happy for him, because he's a friend and he's been dreaming of winning the GTWS for such a long time."
Third place went to Patrick Kipngeno (KEN – Run2gether/On AG). "It was a really tough, very fast race. I fought as hard as I could and we were neck and neck with Rémi, but he was stronger today. But I'm not disappointed because I finished 2nd in the Golden Trail Series. It's only my second year on the circuit and I really feel like I've progressed this year!"
Fabian Venero is the overall winner of the GTNS and the U23s!
Despite competing in the U23 category, it was Spain’s Fabian Venero (ESP – GTNS ESP/POR) who won the Golden Trail National Series overall. He finished in front of Juho Ylinen (FIN – GTNS NORDICS) and Mattia Tanara (ITA – GTNS ITALY).
Fabian Venero also finished first in the U23s ahead of Pablo Van Hoorn (NDL – GTNS UK/NL) and Simone Giolitti(ITA – GTNS ITALY).
GTNS Nordics win the teams category
GTNS NORDICS won the team ranking by 5 minutes ahead of GTNS MEXICO and GTNS ESP/POR.
Remember, this ranking is based on the times of the best male, best female and the two best U23 male and female runners in each team (prologue + final race).
Results – Men’s Final
Overall
1 – ELHOUSINE ELAZZAOUI (MAR – NNORMAL): 1:50:19 (+300 pts)
2 – RÉMI BONNET (CHE – SALOMON/RED BULL): 1:50:58 (+282 pts)
3 – PATRICK KIPNGENO (KEN – RUN2GETHER/ON AG): 1:51:01(+264 pts)
4 – TIMOTHY KIBETT (KEN – MILIMANI RUNNERS): 1:53:07 (+249 pts)
5 – PHILEMON KIRIAGO (KEN – RUN2GETHER/ON AG): 1:54:04 (+234 pts)
6 – ROBERT PKEMOI (KEN – JOMA): 1:55:45 (+225 pts)
7 – DANIEL PATTIS (ITA – BROOKS): 1:55:47 (+216 pts)
8 – CHRISTIAN ALLEN (USA – NIKE TRAIL): 1:55:51 (+210 pts)
9 – ROBERTO DELORENZI (CHE – BROOKS): 1:58:22 (+204 pts)
10 – ALAIN SANTAMARIA BLANCO (ESP – SALOMON): 1:58:31 (+199 pts)
GTNS – OVERALL (PROLOGUE + FINAL)
1 – FABIAN VENERO (ESP – GTNS ESP/POR): 2:28:39
2 – JUHO YLINEN (FIN – GTNS NORDICS): 2:30:30
3 – MATTIA TANARA (ITA – GTNS ITALY): 2:33:03
4 – ABRAHAM HERNANDEZ CRUZ (MEX – GTNS MEXICO): 2:33:06
5 – SANDOR CZABO (HUN – GTNS SLO/CRO/HUN): 2:34:27
GTNS – U23 (PROLOGUE + FINAL)
1 – FABIAN VENERO (ESP – GTNS ESP/POR): 2:28:39
2 – PABLO VAN HOORN (NDL – GTNS UK/NL): 2:35:49
3 – SIMONE GIOLITTI (ITA – GTNS ITALY): 2:39:35
4 – SHOTA MATSUMOTO (JAP – GTNS JAPAN): 2:44:47
5 – LINUS WEDIN (SWE – GTNS NORDICS): 2:47:06
GTNS – TEAMS
1 – GTNS NORDICS: 11:24:31
2 – GTNS MEXICO: 11:29:38
3 – GTNS ESP/POR: 11:40:53
4 – GTNS DACH: 11:51:37
5 – GTNS USA/CAN: 11:52:13
