Cesenatico, 11 May 2025 – The conditions on race day in Cesenatico are the best. Clear skies, no wind, and a flat sea.
As per the timetable, the first athletes called to line up on the start line are the men’s professionals. At 9.00 a.m. the buzzer sounded punctually and the entry into the water was a mighty cavalcade of 26 athletes. Already at the first of the four fraction buoys, the duo that dictates the pace of the race in the water breaks away. Alessio Crociani, a young Rimini-born Olympic medalist in Paris, and German Magnus Manner opened up the throttle from the very first strokes, creating a clear gap between them and their pursuers that took them into T1 alone. Chasing them is a quartet led by Hungarian Faldum Gabor, also a 2016 Rio Olympian.
On the technical course in Cesenatico, as per the textbook of recent editions, the cards are shuffled a bit. On the uphill stretches, the greek Louis Woodgate launched repeated attacks and marked the legs of the outriders a little, with Crociani wisely choosing a conservative approach, without responding to the greek’s provocations.
The entry into T2 saw Woodgate almost 5′ ahead of the pursuers and a group of four athletes, led by Crociani, who with Faldum, Stojanovic and Manner took to the track with open throttle. It was Crociani himself who seemed the most determined of the four to close the gap on the chasers, and with a very regular rhythm he immediately nibbled metres off his opponent. The attack and overtaking came at the 14th kilometre, with the crowd cheering the home athlete on.
Woodgate tried not to let go of the silver medal, but at the 19th kilometre he was also overtaken by Stojanovic and just over a kilometre from the finish line also by the French Bolzer who, with a half finished in a great 1.05’03’, set the best fraction run of the day. At the finish line, it was Alessio Crociani, making his debut over the distance, who, with a time of 3.36’15’, wrote his name among the winners in the event’s roll of honour and made those present experience a moment of great emotional emotion for the blossoming over long distances of a young man who had grown up in the ranks of TDSGRimini. Completing the podium were Stojanovic in 3.37’40‘ and Bolzer in 3.37’51’. Woodgate, after a generous and courageous race, finished in fourth position with 3.39’25’.
Men’s podium of Challenge Cesenatico 2025 – Credits: Roberto Del Bianco
The women’s race started three minutes after the men’s start, and the belligerent intentions of the Frenchwoman Julie Iemmolo were evident from the very first strokes. Hers was a powerful swim that took her to T1 with a lead of around 45 seconds over Margarita Bicanova, who in turn had a one-minute advantage over a small group of pursuers. In the bike section, the Frenchwoman did not let herself be intimidated by the tussle behind her and always maintained an advantage of around two minutes over the athletes chasing her at the head of the chasing pack. In T2, Iemmolo entered after a lonely 2.48’34’ breakaway and went into the run section with solid intentions. Leaving the bike in the change zone after her is a trio with Dornauer at 2.50’29’, Britain’s Du Luart and Hungary’s Zelinka.
The 21 kilometres along the Cesenatico seafront are very fast and sprightly, but the effort made by Iemmolo in the first two fractions soon takes its toll. Already after the first three kilometres of the stage the lead was halved and the Hungarian gained ground. The French woman tried to resist the comeback, but the attack came at the halfway point, when Zelinka took the lead and set a long and crushing progression of pace, which brought her first to the finish line with 4.07’59’. Julie Iemmolo, with a display of great determination, did not give up the pace and managed to defend her silver medal, closing her effort in 4.09’42‘, followed, to complete the women’s podium of this edition, by the Englishwoman Rihanne Hughes 4.10’19’ at her first important international podium of her career.
Women’s podium of Challenge Cesenatico 2025 – Credits: Roberto Del Bianco
