That's a wrap!

Day 5 Summary

Thursday Morning

Day 4 Summary

Lunchtime Update

Wednesday Morning

Day 3 Summary

Updates from the finish

Sofiane Sehili Second, and Omar Di Felice Third

Ulrich Bartholmos finishes first in 52 hrs 50 mins

So, after yesterday afternoon's finisher's party, the curtains close on one of the final ultra-cycling races of 2020, which happened to be one of the most exciting we have seen. The pace at the front end was relentless throughout, climbing and descending the flank of Vesuvius, forging a path along the coastal roads, and ascending the steep Mt. Faito climb. This was largely sustained in to the Apeninnes as riders rode in to the first night. A select group of riders formed containing __Ulrich Bartholmos__, __Sofiane Sehili__, __Omar Di Felice__ and __Joe Rass-Court__ with __James Hayden__ not far behind. 

__India Landy__, __Ana Orenz__ and __Nicky Shaw__ set the early pace in the solo women's category. However, after India had to scratch due to a crash, it was Ana that pushed through the first night to create a lead she held to the end of the race.

In the overall standings, after James and Joe both scratched due to crashes leading to mechanical issues, Ulrich, Sofiane and Omar battled it out, hardly stopping for rest until Mt Etna, and the finish in Nicolosi. It was ultimately Ulrich who held his lead until the finish, to be crowned winner of the Two Volcano Sprint 2020 (for the second year in a row). Sofiane finished in second, just over two hours later, and Omar finished third half an hour after that.

A chasing group had formed through the Apeninnes, which was also sustained until Sicily. The rest of the top ten finished over the next eleven hours: __Cristian Auriemma__	in 4th, __Kim Raeymaekers__	in 5th,	__Lukas Neubeck__ in 6th, __Manuel Truccolo__ in 7th, __Andrew Phillips__	in 8th, __Adrien Liechti__	in 9th and __Anabell Orenz__ in 10th.

During this time, the first pair, __Mahe Clement__ and	__Jordan Gueguen__ also finished after nearly sixty-four hours racing.

__Fanny Bensussan__ rallied after early issues to finish in 12th overall, and became the second woman to finish. Nicky Shaw was the third women to finish (in 22nd overall) fifteen hours later.

Our lantern-rouge(s) finished in just over five days. The __Linton twins__ (Naomi and Ruth) had barely ridden bicycles before deciding to take on the 2VS challenge. One rode a B-twin bike because, as in her words, she’s the “B Twin”. Her clip broke halfway and she finished the race on flat pedals and 10€ plastic shoes. We think these two deserve the prize of “Legends”.

[https://www.instagram.com/p/CGsvZr2FmJw/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CGsvZr2FmJw/)

Also a massive thanks to the Two Volcano crew for making race commentary happen with live pictures and comments! See you all next year!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGurWd7lUWx/


The curtains have almost drawn closed on this years Two Volcano Sprint. As  much of the cycling world's eyes were on the Alps as the Giro d'Italia was lit up - many of our ultra-cyclists were still proving themselves by conquering Etna and earning the respect of finishing this brutal race.

![a6807093-3768-4d2a-aec6-383bcec62bd8](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7HssjbG8AXrPG23zcTb5Yu/58e48b4b516f9221f103a800c5c569f4/a6807093-3768-4d2a-aec6-383bcec62bd8.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Patrick Doupe reaches the finish to reunite with his wife. Patrick's bike broke early on in the race but managed to finish still after getting replacement wheels.

__Eleven__ riders have reached the finish so far today. __Adrian O’Sullivan__, __Matthieu Lifschitz__, __Frank Scholler__ and __Marina Sonzogni__ arrived earlier in the day (as seen in previous updates). Riders continued to finish throughout the afternoon and evening:

__Cédric Sion__	in 107 hrs 25 mins	(29th)
__Thomas Chateau__	in 107 hrs 33 mins	(30th)
__Kamil Prusinowski__	in 108 hrs 04 mins (31st)
__Patrick Doupe__	in 108 hrs 25 mins (32nd)
__Luigi Valiante__ in	108 hrs 51 mins	(33rd)
__Pamela Cepparulo__	in 108 hrs 57 mins (34th) and
__Tom Van Hout__	in 111 hrs 30 mins (35th)

![PHOTO-2020-10-22-15-15-51](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/zM3aoMARbchRdoqY7fkpW/1b7c68286ae6484e9e8a6f1d03c57bef/PHOTO-2020-10-22-15-15-51.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Frank Scholler at the end of his first race. "It was unreal. The last climb was tough. At the top of Mt. Etna, I cried like a child".

![b3ffbb8f-8274-4b02-b76a-97bd9a118446](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6a0Uv2FJQdznxC4z7go576/94847756b33a45a9409c7a73508d19fc/b3ffbb8f-8274-4b02-b76a-97bd9a118446.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Cedric Sion

![703c96c3-607a-4c07-87cb-3e6b77dcbb39](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5wymmPvRE00aVRcXOazrPt/9818d4fba13d08e727601bedeaf450ac/703c96c3-607a-4c07-87cb-3e6b77dcbb39.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Thomas Chateau "The descent from Mt. Etna was enough to forget all the other difficulties"

![0a3c61c9-1b68-4d79-ada6-a459589e946d](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5LcYITAevgdjvkie5fWq5z/61c199bad9fdd6db8d6f0166907513fa/0a3c61c9-1b68-4d79-ada6-a459589e946d.JPG)
📷 Lily Buhring - Kamil Prusinowski on his way to the finish: "It's a shame it's over!"

![b3bcb36c-7c32-4dbe-a41c-52192a3d2afe](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4e1s8Lkzd5CSq4EwUMl1Xl/a2183bf8301646ea159290214f404e11/b3bcb36c-7c32-4dbe-a41c-52192a3d2afe.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Luigi and Pamela at the finish!


After 1039 km, __Frank Scholler__ and __Marina Sonzogni__ arrive in Nicolosi just three minutes apart (103 hrs 30 mins and 103 hrs 33 mins respectively).

![PHOTO-2020-10-22-12-03-28](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/sYfxbhYtMcthA3IzuBOJP/f7c16600567aa46779584e53741adc1d/PHOTO-2020-10-22-12-03-28.jpg)
![PHOTO-2020-10-22-12-06-36](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6okL6NWlvUVyoRhTg9S8IN/d796956fd7df352bebd2acb107f95875/PHOTO-2020-10-22-12-06-36.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Marina enjoying hot arancini after 4 days of biscuits.


Frank Scholler and Marina Sonzogni Arrive

__Adrian O’Sullivan__ finishes in 102 hrs 33 mins. Massive congratulations for coming back after scratching last year, and absolutely smashing it!

![Adrian](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2JN1tRx4lG9pp4kQWRLnU7/a8e3976ec9a653878442b074358f904b/Adrian.jpg)
📷  Niel Copeland - Adrian at the finish

__Matthieu Lifschitz__ joins Adrian in Nicolosi and gets to enjoy a well deserved beer and arancini.

![PHOTO-2020-10-22-11-38-58](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/63z9pjDkc6NBTDvtbe0r0Z/86a6beb33dddee4af3ec2a0a0f03d072/PHOTO-2020-10-22-11-38-58.jpg)
📷  Celeste Jones

Adrian O’Sullivan and Matthieu Lifschitz finish

This morning's sunrise was the fifth the riders have seen since starting the race early on Sunday. Overnight, the last riders have been making their way to and through Sicily to join those finished in Nicolosi.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGo4qqeliGB/

Since out last update, __Nicky Shaw__, __Julien Gravaud__ and __Markus Kroell__ have all finished, with Nicky becoming the third solo woman to cross the line.

__Adrian O'Sullivan__ looks to be the next rider to summit Etna and begin the final descent. Behind him are fourteen other riders, eleven of which are in Sicily.

Riders have been rolling into the finish in Nicolosi throughout last night and today. Those finished find have been greeting incoming racers, exchanging notes from the road and waiting to welcome the next road-weary rider in.

Twenty-one riders have now finished, __Thomas Ceyrowsky__ and __Niel Copeland__ since our last update. Niel described the experience as "absolutely savage" and "the hardest thing I've ever done".

__Nicky Shaw__ is nearing the top of Mt. Etna and looks to be the third solo woman that will reach the finish. The rest of the field are either facing the final 200 km in Sicily or are bearing down on the ferry at the bottom of the Apeninnes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGm51Nzl9UR/

![e7922a84-3899-4c00-8324-3c6b0108dd8d](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5zcAfsrd13L9JQlNDwEZGp/add5b39d14baeda6fd6dd78002983c78/e7922a84-3899-4c00-8324-3c6b0108dd8d.JPG)
![f846cc82-bb8c-45d4-83f4-a4f29943d705](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/73N0lSiMZ4zsReY1V6ZLA3/4336231bd9af6f794390babbb3f79715/f846cc82-bb8c-45d4-83f4-a4f29943d705.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Neil Jones with a shot of grappa, and a hot arancini at the finish

Five more riders have finished throughout the morning. Robert Gardiner finished in 15th overall. When Rob caught up with the media team, his report was "everything went wrong, crashed, vomited and did the last climb with drink only" and "I need to stop doing this kind of thing".

![176cd6a3-a42c-4898-acfc-9442f07eaf1c](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6gOKpVFrcee0bvCd5IO6LN/5596d60afdadf0ed14970ea43cb8edc8/PHOTO-2020-10-21-10-12-50.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Rob Gardiner: "I need to stop doing this kind of thing"

Rob was followed by Bruno Ferraro (16th), Jörg-Ingo Scheffel (17th),	Raphael Albrecht (18th) and Peter Batt (19th).

![PHOTO-2020-10-21-10-39-58](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2i2AjNRVV574lcoVAKrK6a/f9599a1709fbe785063ed7c16efe7a8d/PHOTO-2020-10-21-10-39-58.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Cheers Bruno!

![PHOTO-2020-10-21-11-49-38](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3JluJiZW5nwrZVNutv2bXO/9d28bba3fe6c9965220ef864ffe51d74/PHOTO-2020-10-21-11-49-38.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Jorg at the finish

![PHOTO-2020-10-21-13-43-58](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/WwLKNsoRqX6UA5M2lVJ1T/044e0de7021c3fa1bbd622e24e050e95/PHOTO-2020-10-21-13-43-58.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Raphael rolls in

__Max Riese__ reaches Nicolosi to finish 14th. After a freezing night on slippery roads he is glad to reach the finish.

![bf7dfaaa-c6c1-4fb0-ba10-6c017f314f3b](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6yMGOfaQPlUI9T2Tp15tvY/2f567d567d22d5ec9dbe20dadec22010/4058fa0f-401b-4173-a0f7-4eeec8c08c36.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Max and Andrew swap stories at the finish

![176cd6a3-a42c-4898-acfc-9442f07eaf1c](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/tZKqwAkmxEOF4xP1hXDsJ/bba03e9a8ad22b82cf93d7d5ab3bcb8e/176cd6a3-a42c-4898-acfc-9442f07eaf1c.JPG)
📷 Celeste Jones - Ulrich congratulates Max

Max is in

Five more riders have reached Nicolosi in the night and finished their race. It was 1°C on Etna last night and the riders faced a cold climb, and even colder descent.

__Adrien Liechti__ finishes in 9th place, and __Ana Orenz__ rounds off the top ten, finishing in 10th overall, becoming the __first solo woman__ to finish the Two Volcano Sprint 2020. Ana rolled in to Nicolosi at 4:30am, after 71 hours, half frozen from the descent but as always in very good spirits. Congratulations for a strong ride Ana!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGma8JnlP1L/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGl62J5FNBi/

Behind them __Robbie Britton__, __Fanny Bensussan__ (second solo woman) and __Christoph Fuhrbach__ finish in 11th, 12th and 13th. 

![PHOTO-2020-10-21-06-32-21](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1cdh1tCcjWnaj5uyvL0Rtl/05facc66621a32244555f847a9b9be72/PHOTO-2020-10-21-06-32-21.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Fanny Bensussan warming up at the finish.

![PHOTO-2020-10-21-06-58-32](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5PgArk0VadyJGThZqKHn99/f39367e2e214bdbb6c3c28ed0caf1b8d/PHOTO-2020-10-21-06-58-32.jpg)
📷 Celeste Jones - Christoph Fuhrbach has smiled through so much of this race and it continued at the finish-line.

(Featured image from Nicky Shaw - morning view from Sicily)

It has been an eventful day in southern Italy as the riders converged on Nicolosi. Ulrich reached Sicily in first place last night and rode strongly towards the finish, never faltering in his pace. He was joined at the finish by Sofiane Sehili (2nd) and Omar Di Felice (3rd) shortly after, both crossing the line with smiles on their faces. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkqfP3h5hE/

Since then five other riders have finished (Cristian Auriemma 4th, Kim Raeymaekers 5th,	Lukas Neubeck 6th,	Manuel Truccolo 7th and Andrew Phillips 8th), whilst ten others have landed in Sicily. 

Amongst these riders, in 10th and 11th overall, are Ana Orenz and Fanny Bensussan who have both put in fantastic rides over the last two days with very little time stopped. 40 km splits the two, with Ana needing to stay ahead for 60 km to be the first solo woman over the line. However, with Etna still to come anything could happen as night draws in.

![PHOTO-2020-10-20-16-41-12](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7fSNPXYmoPZ9yK8dSMdlO0/94231906338abb3c8b42eacb264bdda4/PHOTO-2020-10-20-16-41-12.jpg)
📷 Lily Buhring - Robert Gardiner with Etna in the distance.

Further back in the field, Adrien O'Sullivan, Niel Copeland and Nicky Shaw are still within 9 km of each other and are on the final climb of the Apeninnes.

![Screen Shot 2020-10-20 at 20.30.04](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5ssUC3UWuio7gzfdYMnmPO/9b2d593b59e6085d38194e4d8991249b/Screen_Shot_2020-10-20_at_20.30.04.png)

Groups further back are plugging their way through the earlier parts of the Apeninne route - they will more than likely spend more time riding overall than the riders already finished, so this needs to be balanced with enough fuel and rest.


From the foot of Mount Vesuvio to the peak of Mount Etna, the riders of Two Volcano sprint are about to erupt into a display of power and endurance.

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