In Livigno lights are turned on for the next festivities and for the cross-country skiers.
Last 50 places available for the race of 4 December.
At the start also Pankratov (RUS) and the top skiers of Team Robinson Trentino.
Confirmed the Minisgambeda for the future champions on Sunday 5 December.

Is there the Sgambeda? There is! Is there the Minisgambeda? There is! ..and what about Livigno? Is ready, obviously!

As it has been happening for more than 30 years, at the beginning of December there is an unmissable appointment for cross-country skiing lovers, who can give themselves the classic Christmas present in advance: putting on their skis for the first race of the season in Livigno. It will happen soon, on 4 December, and there is not too much time to wait for the fans because there are less than 50 bibs available for this long-awaited 31st edition of the Sgambeda, whose starting ribbon will be raised on Saturday 4, for a 35 km challenge of pure passion in skating.

There are not only amateurs and athletes with a glorious past like the Piccolo Tibet champion Marianna Longa, but also people of the caliber of the Russian Nikolaj Pankratov, an authentic champion of a few years ago, who has a silver and a bronze medal around his neck in the relay race and who boasts three victories, six second and three third places in the World Cup. He was born in 1982, certainly no longer very young but with a physique sculpted almost specifically for granfondo races. He could be one of the favourites, but scrolling through the entry list we discover that the Sgambeda will be the first appointment of the season for the Team Robinson Trentino, which gathers the Pro Team of Ski Classics for a test in the mountains. The two Norwegians Patrick Fossum Kristoffersen and Thomas Gifstad and the Russian Dmitry Bagrashov have booked a pectoral, but also the girls of the team led by Bruno Debertolis aspire to more than just an appearance: Nicole Donzallaz (SUI), Frida Erkers (SWE) and Chiara Caminada: it’s true, they are all experts in classic, but they know how to slide well also in skating.
The home champion Marianna Longa doesn’t want to hear about ranking, for her as for hundreds of fans the Sgambeda remains a great opportunity to ski in a real paradise of cross-country skiing for pure fun.

On the following day, Sunday 5, the event dedicated to the youngest cross-country skiers is confirmed with the Minisgambeda for the categories Under10, Under12, Under14 and Under16/18 in the Cross-Country Stadium of Livigno. The course will be of different lengths according to the age of the participants, from 1 km for the youngest to a maximum of 6 km for the higher categories. The starting time of the Minisgambeda is fixed at 11.00 a.m., followed by the prize giving in the arrival area. Last call for entries is on Friday 3 December at 19.00 at the Apt of Livigno, while the fee of 10 euros can be paid at the bibs’ collection.
Regarding the Sgambeda, the registration fee for the amateurs is 60 euros. You have to hurry because, as anticipated, the bibs are very few!

• By info.sgambeda
• In Newsletter, Press

First snowfall in Livigno that makes us hope for a “white” winter.
The slope, initially realized with snow-farming, is now longer.
Still 100 bibs for the La Sgambeda of 4 December.
Marianna Longa has registered a place in the grid for the 35 Km.

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.” It is a Zen proverb that fits perfectly. The first snow has already arrived in Livigno and it did so in exactly the right place. The snowfall seems to have been made on purpose to extend the cross-country track, which has been open since October 23rd thanks to snow-farming. This snowfall has allowed the technicians to prepare a ring of about three kilometers in the area of the Biathlon Arena.

An extension of the track that the many athletes, champions and simple cross-country skiers, were waiting for, because there is a real crowd. Livigno is one of the few and privileged places where the cross-country skiers, without climbing on the glacier but still remaining in the high altitude in a welcoming and pleasant location, can switch from rollerskis to cross-country skis and prepare for the upcoming season, the World Cup season with the classic appointment in Ruka in Finland and the popular race season, coincidentally starting in Livigno with the 31st edition of La Sgambeda scheduled for Saturday, December 4.

The champions are hurrying to refine their form, while those who want to participate in the historic and fascinating 35 km long-distance race in free technique still have a chance of 100 available bibs, numbers that are… dissolving like snow in the sun. Quantities are limited for this edition, by decision of the organizers to fully respect the rules of containment of Covid, a closed number that will probably leave on foot, and not only in a metaphorical sense, who will hesitate to decide.

Marianna Longa, Livigno’s skierss champion, knows it well and doesn’t want to miss Saturday 4 December. World silver and bronze medals, 10 podiums in the World Cup with two victories, Marianna Longa remains one of the most beloved Italian cross-country skiers, a discipline that she has never abandoned and that she often practices on Livigno’s tracks as an amateur.

Those who are getting serious on the track in Livigno at the beginning of this season are the many athletes of the different national teams who have chosen the ‘Little Tibet’ for their training, and among them several famous faces of the world cross-country skiing with Johannes Klæbo to show off, because he is preparing the Olympic season meticulously and especially in Livigno, openly declaring on his social channels his love for the Italian town.

Among the flakes falling and the slope getting longer, Livigno is coloring itself with the thousand lights that in the approach to the Christmas holidays embellish even more the ‘Little Tibet’, land of sport, fun and shopping.

Info: www.lasgambeda.it

• By info.sgambeda
• In Newsletter, Press