Nopesport

Matt Crane & Helen Winskill continued their fine form following top 10 results in Monday's Middle race to take Silver & Bronze respectively in today's World Cup Sprint final in Cervara, Italy.

Matt finished just over 40 seconds behind the WOC Sprint Silver medalist, Daniel Hubmann of Switzerland, in a time of 14:12 for the short but steep 1.65km course (with an altitude of over 1000m for the highest point). Just 4 seconds behind him taking the bronze medal was the middle distance master Thierry Gueorgiou of France. Other British runners faired well, but with tightly packed times it meant that seconds were precious, Nick Barrable finished in joint 21st in a time of 16:12 while Ewan McCarthy was joint 33rd with 17:04.

In the women's race Simone Niggli-Luder just beat her Swiss teammate Martina Fritschy by 4 seconds to take gold in a time of 15:48 for the 1.43km course. Britains Helen Winskill took 3rd place comfortably, under 30 seconds behind the Swiss pair and over half a minute clear of 4th place Zdenka Starra of the Czech Republic. Heather Monro finished in 28th place in a time of 20 minutes dead, just a second behind Vroni Koenig-Salmi, while Pippa Whitehouse was 36th in a time of 21:55.

Celebrations may have to wait with the Classic being tomorrow but congratulations from nopesport to Matt & Helen!

Womens Podium: Simone, Martina & Helen. Photo Courtesy IOF