He wanted it, he got it. Elhousine Elazzaoui has won the Golden Trail World Series in style, by winning the final in Ascona-Locarno, Switzerland, as well.
Up front it was going to be a battle between Patrick Kipngeno (Kenya) and Elazzaoui. The number two and one were just fourteen points apart in the general standing at the start of the race. In the last regular race of the season, Mammoth, Kipngeno teamed up with Philemon Kiriago to lose Elazzaoui. Kiriago opened hard, in the hope to tire Elazzaoui, but in the end it was the Moroccan winning.
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Elazzaoui plays it cool
In the final Kipngeno needed Kiriago as well. This time to stay in front of the Nnormal trail runner, as Kipngeno needed two men in between him and Elazzaoui to win overall.
Yet, Elazzaoui ran with his brain again. He let Kiriago go, and just followed Kipngeno and Remi Bonnet from the start. A tactic he used the whole season. By following the Moroccan studies the path the other runner chooses, saving a little bit of energy on every corner he takes. Energy he uses for his fast final sprint.
Bonnet forces the break
Bonnet led the chase for the first hour and a half. After that Kipngeno took over, with Elazzoui on his heels. On the last brutal climb Bonnet and Elazzoui dropped the Kenyan, after overtaking first Kiriago and Timothy Kibett. On the downhill Elazzaoui opened the gas and dropped Bonnet in no time to not only win the race, but also the overall classification. “I’m so happy, this is my dream come true. I’ve been wanting to win the Golden Trail World Series for five years. 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 on the downhill and I knew I could go for the victory. I’d like to thank all the spectators who urged me on and gave me their full support.”
Bonnet, last year’s winner of the Golden Trail World Series, held on to second. “I gave it my all today. I stuck to my strategy, which was to make the race hard on the big 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 Golden Trail World Series for such a long time.”
Kipngeno second
Kipngeno finished third: “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 second in the Golden Trail Series. It’s only my second year on the circuit and I really feel like I’ve progressed this year.”
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Photo: Colin Olivero/Rising Story
All results of the final race here and the Grand Trail World Series here.
