The Women's Race

Day 5: Finishers in Full Flow

Day 4: The mountains are calling

Day 3: Riders stretching the length of Italy

Day 2: Rome's in the rear view

We're away!

Pompei to Torbole

Lieven Schroyen

Théo Daniel

Donnacha Cassidy

Zeno Molteni

Wim Borremans

Rudi Bracher

Andrea Ferraro

Cristian Auriemma

Mario Bel

Roger Florian

Christian Leischner

Simone Barberi

Jan Moravec

Jan Jirka

Filip Ludvík

Daniel Thürig

Marco Bergamini

Jacob Fahrenkrug

Andrea Boscolo

Jeff Webb

Samuel Fuller

Manuel Schmid

David Lopez Valero

Andrea Sannino

Maximiliano Oliva

Giuseppe Esposto

Alex Watts

Andreas Steiner

Tomas Malek

Simon Wareing

Jan Rohrberg

Sara Hallbauer

Mathieu Plamondon

Miroslav Kadlecek

Tarik Conati

Andreas Starke

Massimiliano Meton

Alois Christian Adam

Clive Cosby

Petr Petrilak

Filippo Kunc

Marco Bernini 

Nick Duggan

Rudi Bassi

Andrea Collino

Luca Carpino

Gala Giannini

Michele Ravetta

Daniele Migliori

Harry Fletcher

Simon Prevost

Jean-baptiste Frau

Soenke Kreft

Ronnie Carrara

Alex Copeta

Daniele Gambarotto

Roberto Bandiera

Jo Ven

Federica Formichi

Joseph Marshall

Jaap van Dijk

Paolo Parente

Jakub Holec

Kuba Rydval

Tomas Svoboda

Orlando Stott

Yaish Koelewijn

Björn Juretzki

Petra Scherer

Markus Haltiner

Sergiusz Wasilewski

Oliver Fletcher

Davide Reggiani

Michal Pelinka

Petr Jireček

Jan Šesták

Jakub Skala

Ludovic Bollinger

Jens Rasmussen

Martin Moucha

Dave Blair

Conrad Maree & Marcus Maree

Michael Wiese

Richard Barta

Frantisek Capek

Dale Barrington

W Royden & Siobhan Mchenry

Galavotti Enrico

Andreas Kreil

Jiří Mašek

Ian McNulty

Nicola Bertoli

Gino Vecchiotti

Mitchell Deprey

Vladimír Hudec

Ewald Stadtlehner

Heikki Taulu

Jason Woodhouse & Michael Donald

Fabio Crosara

Gaetan Aubry

First female, Sara Hallbauer (pictured above), finished in 5D 12H 5M placing her 32nd overall, out of 95 solo finishers. She affectionately coined the #betterthantiffany hashtag in reference to her Italy Divide finisher wristband being better than diamonds and pearls, and we’re so here for it.

Sara has shared with us a handful of the challenges she and her counterparts faced, mostly to do with the aftereffects of the rain rendering many of the trails extremely muddy and the cobbled surface of the ancient Via Appia Antica an ice rink! Monte Tomba is one of the last climbs of the route and most riders were reduced to pushing their bike on this 1km climb which was exhausting especially towards the end of the route.

![Panade](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1vKnbSOljy06PeP41KrgtZ/13c218eecdb580b851f57a387e601353/Panade.jpg)

*That crunchy peanut butter mud. Delicious.*

![via-appia-antica](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2FJBKV4faLLCC5tGsmdbAh/38d4043005b7e00b4dd35fe02c092cdb/via-appia-antica.jpg)

*The slippery cobbles of the Via Appia Antica*

![Monte Tomba Hike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7FWrSh5VQMPj11haKWf9pl/b7afd75714469a26a00ae306807025a8/Monte_Tomba_Hike.jpg)

*The Monte Tomba hike*

Second woman to Torbole, in the foothills of the Italian Alps after 1,250km of racing, was Federica (Freddie) Formichi. An Italian native who’s had her eyes on racing back in her homeland for a few years celebrated her hard earned finish but is firmly back to her work at Apidura now. No rest for the wicked! Chapeau to Freddie for her first ultra-race, this year's Italy Divide was certainly not rookie-friendly!

![Freddie finihs](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3pNzXgtpYYrvqmaIK9h57M/c218293b688cf2e619f40708e0a5ccca/Freddie_finihs.png)

Petra Scherer took third place in the women’s field and 69th overall in a time of 7D 16H 11M.

- Beccy Waters, Contributing Editor.

It's day 5 and we have 5 bouncing dots at the finish line! First to finish was Théo Daniel, closely followed by Lieven Schroyen just three minutes later!.. we've seen some close finishes in our time and this is right up there. 

Another 8 hours later, and our chasing trio have also reached the finish at the head of Lake Garda. Finishing within a couple of hours of one another we have Donnacha Cassidy, Zeno Molteni and Wim Borremans. Chapeau to all 5 riders, who are no doubt enjoying some well deserved beers and rest tonight. 

The race is far from over, with still over 100 riders on course heading north towards Lake Garda. Conditions under tyre have been particularly challenging this year, and this could get worse later in the week. The forcast is dry the next few days, with rain forcast at the weekend. This could no doubt motivate a lot of riders to finish before the rain arrives.  

It's day 4 and our leading two riders are just 40km from Verona! Théo Daniel and Lieven Schroyen are out in front separated by less than a kilometre, Andrea Ferraro who was leading the race yesterday has dropped back into 8th place.

It's looking like we'll have our first riders home tomorrow! Expect a big battle from the leading riders as they hit the final mountains just outside Verona. It could be a big old push through the night. 

The flat roads between Bologna and Verona are a welcome respite from relentless climbing as your approach Bologna, however are taxing on the mind and legs. But, with two big mountains to pass after Verona, riders should try to enjoy the quicker progress!

The race organiser shared a new route from Prato to Bologna because of bad weather making the planned route "impassable", however it appears this news didn't reach Andrea and Zeno in time who went noticeably off-course before turning back to Prato and pushing on.

Our leading 10 riders have all now pushed past Bologna, with the next 25 riders all on the new route North of Prato. 

I can only see 3 riders marked as DNF so far, which if accurate, is a mighty effort from all involved. It sounds like it's been a wet and tough edition. Kudos to the riders still pushing towards Lake Garda!

Day 3 and the race is in full swing! We've got quite a tight race at the sharp end of things, with the first 6 riders separated by just over 20km with approximately 465km to go.

Fabio Crosara and Andrea Ferraro have led for most of the day, with Zeno Molteni and Théo Daniel leading the pursuit. It looks like Fabio, Andrea and  Théo are all stopped currently in Prato - sleeping or eating? Your guess is as good as mine! Zeno's tracker hasn't pinged for 2 hours and is close behind so may well be the current race leader.

Donnacha Cassidy currently sits in 7th, just outside Florence, and is definitely one to watch with some very strong results (HT550, Great British Divide and more) over the past couple of years. 

The route from Florence to Bologna this year is almost entirely new so it'll be interesting to see how quickly riders get to the flat roads North of Bologna!

Riders are getting more and more strung out further back down the road, with the top 15 rounding out in Siena. Further back, we have a cluster of riders rounding out the top 30 in San Quirico d'Orcia, with 5-6 riders all currently pinging from the same restaurant and hotel. Pizzas all round I hope!

Sara Hallbauer, riding in 24th overall after 645km, is our first female rider on the road and as I type, her dot has just updated into the same restaurant as the other riders. Popular choice!

From social media it appears it's been a very wet edition of the race so far, trail conditions are likely slow and tough going for a lot of the field.

Keep on trucking all! 

The leading riders pushed on through the night and have now left Rome in their dust. We have 4-5 riders pulling away from the next larger cluster of riders, with the front 3 of Andrea Ferraro, Fabio Crosara, and Zeno Molteni already through the 450km mark. 

Some pace.

As I write approximately 25 riders have made it past the Vatican and will now be cruising along prime gravel tracks towards Viterbo - watch out for those Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdogs...

Just South of Rome Jacob Fahrenkrug and Simon Wareing are starting the Via Appia Antica, an old cobbled Roman road which will rattle them all the way into the city. Not too far behind come the next ~25 riders spread across the singletrack and trails around Lake Albano, enjoy the views!

__Sleep or twist?__

Behind the first ~25 riders who mostly went through the night, most remaining riders got down for a couple hours or so kip. It looks like the Parco Nazionale del Circeo was a popular spot along with the coastal area near Punta Rossa. I remember the climb (hike!) out of Punta Rossa well, and must admit I wouldn't be too chipper if I woke up and had to get over that climb first thing.

__Tracker Update__

Dotwatcher been told that a couple of the trackers have been mixed up and they're not with the riders who FMC is showing them as. We're awaiting more information but please note tracking may not be entirely reliable.

118 riders set off from Pompei earlier today, climbing Mount Vesuvius and descending into Naples before tackling the smooth coastal roads heading North.

Andrea Ferraro has opened up a small gap at the front of the race at the 193km mark, with an impressive average moving speed of 24kph so far! With a handful of riders just over 10km back down the road, it'll be interesting to see how the race lead changes through the night.

Will riders settle down for some sleep, or press on towards Rome?

Ciao! I'm Tom Marshall, one of the commentators for this year's Italy Divide, and race veteran from 2022. Italy Divide is a truly amazing route, taking in all of the culture and beauty that Italy has to offer. 1,250km with 22,000m of elevation, it's a cracker.

Race organiser Giacamo isn't one to skirt his route around the larger urban areas, but rather encourages the riders to soak up everything that Italy, and its major cities, has to offer. Riders should expect to pass directly through Naples, Rome, Siena, Florence and more. It's not every day you ride into Rome, around the Colosseum and past the Vatican, before heading on towards Siena. Enjoy it!

With the route starting in Pompeii, riders are thrown straight into the deep end with a brutal climb over Mount Vesuvius. It's a long steep climb and towards the top you'll be hiking up and then down through thick volcanic dust. But, what goes up must come down, and the road descent into Naples is a cracker.

Navigating Saturday afternoon traffic in Naples isn't for the faint hearted, but flat and fast coast roads mean the next 200km tick by nicely. Soon the riders will be approaching 350km and Rome is on the horizon. From memory, the route gets progressively tougher from here onwards but there's more fantastic riding, perfect gravel roads and plenty of Italian towns dramatically perched on hillsides as riders head towards Siena at the 700km mark.

![Italy Divide 22 Gravel](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4n08iKenWOy8J1J9e04ljE/380e9605e680ae46ead2d672640cf83c/IMG_5971.JPG)

Italy's home to a lot of large, territorial and well, intimidating dogs. From domestic "pets" which will chase and bark at you from behind their owners fence, to the Maremmano-Abruzzese sheepdogs guarding farms from wolves across the country. I did get chased by 4(!) huge Italian sheepdogs somewhere before the 500km mark in one of the scariest experiences of my life, but I'll save the details for another day.

The section from Siena to Florence, then onto Bologna, was brutally tough. Pre-race chatter was that one rider was stuck in the 100km section for over 24 hours. Big never ending climbs with lots of hike a bike paired with shin deep mud. However, this section, Via Degli Dei, has been removed from the 2023 edition! What it's been replaced with is still to be confirmed, but it can't be much slower going so we could see some very fast times from the front runners.

Bologna to Verona was pan flat so good progress can be made, if you can stomach the constant pedalling. A quick dive into Verona and you're onto the final two mountain passes of the race. The first is a huge off road climb, slowly snaking its way up to the refuge at the top before a stunning gravel descent. Temperatures were near freezing last year, and there has been deep snow at the refuge before!

![Italy Divide 22](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6l4GuZiDO87SDMfHwsP2oG/4a1b3b43dd311bbea9364b81a4b82241/IMG_6004.JPG)

The last climb is a long road climb, quicker progress but tough on the mind to keep climbing and climbing. At the summit, a short rocky descent with a 1000m sheer drop and then you're onto roads and cycle paths all the way to Lake Garda. Don't be deceived by the route's elevation, there's a few climbs thrown into the final "descent", and if you get a prevailing block headwind off the lake then the last few km will really sting tired legs.

I'm excited to see what the updated route has in store for this year's riders in what should be another classic edition of the race.

The race kicks off around midday on Saturday the 29th of April.

Tom Marshall

Italy Divide 2023 Tracking and Commentary: Italy's original mixed-terrain event is back for another year's racing. A season opener for off-road European riders, it's always a great watch as many riders have kick-started a fruitful season from these hillsides.

Italy Divide 2023 Tracking

Italy's original mixed-terrain event is back for another year's racing. A season opener for off-road European riders, it's always a great watch as many riders have kick-started a fruitful season from these hillsides.

Italy Divide 2023

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