The 40-year-old Italian is eager to discover the northeast of Sardinia on Sunday, October 31st: “Charming place, I can’t wait to be in Golfo Aranci”. New Zealander McPerson, Dutch Staps and US Rivera also confirmed their participation
“I wish to finish the season in style, with a fun race in an enchanting place at Sardegna Tries X. I can’t wait to be in those sites I only could appreciate in photos up to now”. Thus 40-year-old Alessandro Degasperi, one of the most iconic Italian triathletes in the world, announces his participation in the Sardegna Tries X, the Triathlon Cross Country event to be held on Sunday, October 31st in the breathtaking scenery of Golfo Aranci (Sardinia, Italy). The startlist of the event – organized by ASD Sardegna X Sports with the contribution of the Sardinia Region’s Tourism Department and the Golfo Aranci Municipality – continues to be enhanced with big names. The Sardegna Tries X Triathlon Cross Country race will be the key moment of a three-day event including the Aquathlon Regional Championships (Saturday, October 30th) and a Trail competition (Monday, November 1st).
“I hope the course won’t be too technical and hard because I am a bit ‘rusty’ with the MTB” Degasperi shields himself. “Anyway, I can say I have wonderful memories of Sardinia, including a series of exciting victories“. Twice winner of La Santa Ironman Lanzarote Club, considered the world’s toughest IM event, Degasperi will bring his experience, enthusiasm and philosophy to Sardegna Tries X: triathlon must be lived with serenity and desire to look inside yourself, step by step. “I built my philosophy over 25 years of experience in triathlon, passing through all distances and all declinations of the Triple, from Italian races to world championships. Triathlon guided me from when I was sixteen until now that I’m forty. My family was born and raised with this discipline and the sporting spirit in general and I think this won’t change in the future. I would say that triathlon is a lifestyle that marked and conditioned all the stages of my life” Degasperi explains.
The triathlete from Trentino will keep company with big names in the discipline in Golfo Aranci, from Australian Ben Allen to Spaniard Leon Drajer, from Austrian Dominik Wychera to German Felix Schumann, up to the New Zealander Kieran McPherson, the Dutch Joep Staps and the American Humberto Rivera, to mention some of the latest registered ones. “I have distant memories of the rivals, but for sure Sardegna Tries X will host very strong and young athletes. Above all, I will be curious to return to measure myself with this discipline and to check at what level I am: it will certainly be an incentive to start competing in this discipline again next season”. Jacqui Slack (GBR), Kiara Lenaerts (BEL), Maud Golsteyn (NED) and Italian multiple champion Monica Cibin are the big names for the women’s competition.
At Sardinia Tries X, Degasperi, Starps, Lenaerts and their fellow adventurers will tackle an initial 1-km swimming fraction in the clear waters of the Gulf of Marinella, followed by the Mountain Bike (23 km) and running (7 km) sections to be unfolded on the wild single tracks around the hill of Nostra Signora del Monte, a natural terrace above Punta Marana, 15 km from Olbia. Borgo Marana will host the logistics base, departure, transition and arrival area.
The international event will be opened by Acquathlon regional championships of Sardinia (2,5-km running, 1-km swimming, 2,5-km running) on Saturday, October 30th and followed by a Trail event (12 km / 24 km) on Monday, November 1st.
