Diego Alfonso Arias Cuervo and Adelheid Morath win UCI Marathon World Cup events in Liguria

Blazing heat and the wooded hills of Liguria were the magnificent backdrop for the second round of the UCL Marathon World Cup on Sunday afternoon. The 100 kilometre course climbed nearly 4000 meters above the village of Finalborgo, placing immense strain on the riders in the heat of the afternoon. Ad With the full field departing together, there was real suspense as to who would be the first rider to cross the line.

UCI Mountain Bike World SeriesCharre and Melamed run the table in Enduro World Cup outdoor regionA DAY AGO It was Colombian Diego Alfonso Arias Cuervo, finishing 72 seconds ahead of Martin Stosek. Italian Fabian Rabensteiner claimed a respectable third place. 123 riders from 20 countries took off at 8:00AM and were in the saddle for the better part of six hours.

15 failed to finish the climb in sweltering conditions. The punishing course had strained all of the racers, and Arias Cuervo admitted as much afterwards. He said: «The race was really hard.

I had a tough time because there were a lot of climbs and they were really rough. Around the 60km mark I started upping the pace, I was tied with the second-placed rider but during that climb I was able to pick up some space and distance between us and that’s when I managed to make a bigger gap and win the race. It’s the second most important win of my career after the 2021 World Championships in Elba.» Germany's Adelheid Morath was the first woman to cross the line.

Having followed an aggressive racing strategy, Morath took an early lead and pushed well ahead of her competition. Round one's winner Lejla Njemcevic struggled to keep pace but finished best of the rest in second, while Namibian cyclist Vera Looser was third. Echoing her male counterpart, Morath spoke