Campaccio, Yemen Crippa brings Italy back to the podium after eight years

Andrea Buongiovanni

@abuongi

January 6th
– SAN GIORGIO SU LEGNANO (MILAN)

He is the Campaccio of the first times, he is the Campaccio – athletically speaking – of the “new” Africa. In the cross classic of San Giorgio su Legnano, near Milan, representatives of Burundi and Eritrea had never prevailed. It happens in edition number 66, the tenth Gold stage of the World Tour, on a gray and humid day, thanks to Rodrigue Kwizera and Rahel Daniel, he’s 23, she’s 21. It is also the Campaccio of Italy’s return to the podium after eight years: thanks to Yeman Crippa, third after having made the selection and led up to 300 meters from the finish. Andrea Lalli and Daniele Meucci, in 2015, were second and third.

Men

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Kwizera, already winner of the 2021-22 circuit, in the current one, between 23 October and 18 December, won the stages of Amorebieta, Alcobendas and Vanta de Banos, took second place in Seville and third in Atapuerca. All matches are played in Spain, his country of residence and of… club. It is he, in the first appearance of his career in Italy, who overtakes Crippa in the decisive stages: Birhanu Balew, the 26-year-old Bahraini standard bearer of Ethiopian origins, tries to outwit him on the finish straight on the comeback. But the photo finish (or almost) rewards the Burundian, a man of 26’56” in the 10 km on the road, a distance over which he will return on Sunday the 15th in Valencia. The two – Balew on the 5000m was sixth at the World Championships in Eugene and at the Tokyo Games – after the expected five two km laps, are credited with the same 28’42”, with Crippa at 5″ and capable of preceding the Ugandan Oscar Chelimo, 5000m world bronze and winner of the BoClassic on Saturday. The first three athletes are all represented by the Trentino manager Gianni Demadonna. “I’m happy with how I managed the race – says the blue, fourth in Campaccio in 2019 and 2020 and sixth in 2018 – from the penultimate lap I broke several times and the reaction of the public supported me. Those who resisted me, in the final, still had that gas that I had already spent and it made the difference. But the gap with the best specialists is getting smaller and smaller and if he continues to work like this, it will get better and better ”. The European champion of the 10,000m, on Saturday morning, together with the Zoghlami twins and coach Massimo Pegoretti, will leave for Monte Gordo, in Portugal, where he will train until Saturday 28th, with a blitz in San Vittore Olona to take part in the Cinque Mulini on Sunday 15th. Then, after a week at home in Trento, you’re on the high ground in Kenya to prepare for the marathon debut, scheduled for April 2 in Milan. The other Italians: Yoghi Chiappinelli, who in turn makes his debut over the 42 km official (in Seville on 19 February) is 7th (as in the three previous editions) in 29’18”, Iliass Aouani 8th in 29’44” and Mattia Padovani 10th in 29’52”.

Women

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The women’s test (three laps, 6 km) also ends in the final stages. Daniel’s action, already runner-up at San Giorgio twelve months ago, is disruptive. And the Kenyan Margaret Kipkemboi, in 2020 in turn placed and world champion bronze in charge of the 10,000m, must bow down (19’10” to 19″12). Third is another Kenyan: Mirriam Chebet (19’31”). Battocletti, fresh from confirmation of the title of under 23 European champion, misses the podium by 7”. But she improves on the three sixth places of the recent past. “I thought I had better sensations – says the Fiamma Azzurra – in the middle of the race I suffered an empty pass. Then, in the final stages, I was good at reacting and recovering a couple of positions”. Nadia will now start thinking about indoor. She likes Ludovica Cavalli (seventh in 20’03 “) who precedes Giovanna Selva (20’10”), Anna Arnaudo (20’18 “) and Federica Zanne (20’19”).