At just 22km in length, the Skyrunner® World Series Dolomites SkyRace® is for the fast and the furious. It’s a classic SKY race, starts low, goes high and then back down as fast as possible. Skyrunner® World Series partner, SCOTT Sports has always had a great reputation at the event! Who could forget that epic battle that came down to sprint between Marco De Gasperi and Kilian Jornet?

This year, Italian Elisa Desco (2014 Skyrunning World Champion) was a shining light for the shoe and apparel brand, running a very calm and collected race. On the ascent to Piz Boè (3,156m), the Italian paced herself within the top five as a storming Laura Orguè (Skyrunning Vertical World Champion) dictated the pace upfront, followed by American, Megan Kimmel.

Desco no doubt was relying on her incredible descending skills to make up ground at the summit of the race as 11km of quad busting, ankle twisting and knee testing technical downhill awaited.

True to form, Desco descended with great skill and form finally placing herself in 3^rd. The opportunity to catch Orgue and Kimmel was gone, the elastic had stretched and arriving in Canazei town centre to the assembled crowds, Desco took a well earned final podium place and once again gained valuable points for the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series.

France’s Alexis Sevennec took part in both Friday’s Dolomites Vertical Kilometer® and Sunday’s SkyRace®. With the world’s top vertical specialists competing, he powered up the steep VK to close 11^th in an excellent 35’59”.  Without saving his legs, he toed the start line for the 22km SkyRace®, looking to improve on his performance from 2014 where he placed 5th. It was a big task! Many had noted in advance of the start of this year’s race how tough the competition was, victory could come from anywhere.

In the early stages, VK specialist Saul Paulua Rodriguez dictated a fast pace, the remaining runners followed desperately trying to keep the Columbian in sight. Sevennec, always smiling, looked relaxed as he tackled the steep gradients. At the turn point, the race changed, Rodriguez fell back as the downhill specialists gained ground. Sevennec used his skiing ability to tackle the steep gradients with great dexterity and although he didn’t better his performance of 2014, he placed a very creditable 6^th in what is arguably one of the strongest fields ever assembled in Canazei.

Look out for the SCOTT Sports team and champions as the 2015 Skyrunner® World Series moves fast forward. Attention will now concentrate on the Tromso SkyRace^® in Norway, Matterhorn Ultraks in Switzerland and The Rut series of races in Montana USA.