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.

With the full field departing together, there was real suspense as to who would be the first rider to cross the line.

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 after the race about just how tough the conditions had been.

She said: “I think it was the hardest race in my whole career, it was super tough. The course was like 3700m of climbing but in a very technical terrain, so steep and loose, but beautiful. The first part was rooty and a little bit wet and then the last part was so dry, steep and hot. It was brutal with the sun, so there was some suffering.”

The 39-year-old racing veteran continued, explaining the tactical approach she had taken to the race: “I tried on the first climb to make a gap and I felt good, so about 10km in I got the gap and I kept it to the finish, it was incredible. It means a lot to me that now we have World Cup racing in marathon, it’s a big step and also for women’s racing, so it really meant a lot to me, I’m very emotional. Today was a day that I will keep in my mind for a lifetime. “

37 riders entered in the Women Elite race, and only 29 managed to finish. The last, Larissa Rossner, rolled over the finish line at just under the nine-hour mark, more than three hours longer than Morath spent in the saddle.