Zegama, an exceptional line-up to kick off the 2022 Golden Trail World Series!

The runners are just waiting for one thing, to rise up through the crowd of spectators that gather along the Sancti Spiritu ascent. Like the Alpes d’Huez climb in the Tour de France, the path opens up into the middle of 15,000 spectators crammed together along this climb, the sound of ringing bells, cheers and encouragements make the runners euphoric, and wanting for more, Zegama is Zegama!

As if to mark the rebirth of the legend after two years away, we can point out the Kenyans’ arrival into the Golden Trail World Series – reputedly the world’s fastest road-running athletes, how will they manage on the world’s toughest trail races, and in the densest circuit on the planet?

The times to beat

Men’s record: 03:45:08 Stian Angermund in 2017

Women’s record: 04:34:27 Maite Maiora in 2017

You can find all the specs of the course route by Suunto HERE

Discover the favorites at Zegama, the GTWS 2022 – 1st Stage

The Women

The field for the first race of the Golden Trail World Series is nothing short of exceptional, for both the men and the women! The women’s start list shows a duel between the two main protagonists from last season: Maude Mathys(Team Salomon, Switzerland) and the revelation, Nienke Brinkman (Team Nike Trail, Netherlands). In 2021, the Swiss athlete showed she was the toughest by finishing 4^th overall at the final in El Hierro. But Nienke was only in her first ever trail running season and since then she has continued to impress. During the winter, the Flying Dutchwoman proved her prowess by beating the Dutch road marathon record in 2h22. Nevertheless, these two women will not be alone trying to claim victory.

Courtney Dauwalter (Team Salomon, USA), will she be able to keep the pace in such a short distance as an ultra-runner specialist 7^th overall in last year’s UTMB®? Sara Alonso (Team Salomon, Spain), a local girl and who finished 9^th in the GTWS 2021, will be chomping at the bit to shine on home turf. Other girls to watch closely are Johanna Åström (Team Arc’Teryx, Norway), Teresiah Omosa (Team Run2gether, Kenya), Dominika Stelmach (Team Adidas Terrex, Poland), Marcela Vasinova (Team Salomon, Czech Republic), and Karina Carsolio (Team Salomon, Mexico).

The men

Of course, there’s one man that is attracting all the attention! Kilian Jornet (Team NNormal, Spain) has chosen Zegama to kick off his 2022 trail running season. He has nine victories on this legendary Basque race and will be wanting to grab a tenth! For that he needs to outstrip Manuel Merillas (Team Scarpa, Spain), the current European and World Skyrunning Champion. Behind this duo are the usual Golden Trail World Series regulars like orienteering specialist Frédéric Tranchand (Team Scott, France), 6^th in the 2021 overall ranking despite a knee injury that severely held him back.

The winner of the final at El Hierro in 2021 and 2^nd in the overall ranking, Francesco Puppi(Team Nike Trail, Italy), should also be closely watched. Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon/Red Bull, Switzerland), the uphill specialist, Zegama winner in 2018 and 6^th in the GTWS 2021, as well as Thibaut Baronian (Team Salomon, France), 3^rd at Zegama in 2019 and 5^th in the GTWS 2021, will also be keen to be up front. Then we have guys such as Elhousine Elazzaoui (Team Salomon, Marocco), Jan Margarit (Team La Sportiva, Spain), Nadir Maguet (Team La Sportiva, Italy), Darren Thomas (Team Salomon, USA) winner of the Golden Trail National Series final in the Azores in 2021, and Ruy Ueda (Red Bull, Japan), VK World Champion and 3^rd in the Skyrunning World Championship.

One thing’s for sure, we can’t wait to be in Zegama to at last launch the Golden Trail World Series 2022 season!

Follow the stories LIVE during the race on the Golden Trail Series Instagram page, as well as the live stream on the Golden Trail Series Facebook page, on Golden Trail TV or at www.goldentrailseries.com