{"id":1695,"date":"2025-08-22T19:02:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/?p=1695"},"modified":"2025-09-10T19:05:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T19:05:48","slug":"italian-francesco-puppi-aims-for-his-third-medal-at-canfrancpirineos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/italian-francesco-puppi-aims-for-his-third-medal-at-canfrancpirineos\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Francesco Puppi Aims for His Third Medal at CanfrancPirineos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Ultra Trail will be the premier race in distance and elevation gain at the CanfrancPirineos 2025 World Mountain & Trail Running Championships.<\/strong>
Previously part of the IAU\/ITRA World Championships until 2019, from Thailand 2021 onwards it has been renamed \u201cLong Trail\u201d within the new unified World Mountain & Trail Running Championship by World Athletics. The figure of Luis Hernando continues to dominate the historical podium of this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LONG TRAIL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2025: JIM WALMSLEY VS. FRANCESCO PUPPI.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With an initial phase dating back to 2007 under the IAU, the Ultra World Championship gained new momentum when ITRA joined the project in 2015, alternating routes of 50k and 80k. Five editions followed: starting in Annecy, France (2015), then Peneda Geres, Portugal (2016\u201386k), Tuscany, Italy (2017\u201350k), Penyagolosa, Spain (2018\u201385k), and back to Portugal (2019\u201344k).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the pioneering IAU\/ITRA phase before the unification in Thailand 2021, the clear protagonist was Spanish runner Luis Alberto Hernando, who began his dominance with a silver in Annecy 2015, followed by three consecutive golds in 2016, 2017, and 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Luis registered this year to compete in the popular races of CanfrancCanfranc at the beginning of September, the spotlight now shifts to a new duel between Jim Walmsley and Francesco Puppi, who after contesting gold and silver in the Marathon in Patagonia 2019, will now face off in the Long Trail discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRANCESCO PUPPI: TWO SILVERS ON TWO CONTINENTS.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From the southern forests of Patagonia to the humid heat of Southeast Asia, Francesco Puppi has crossed continents and years to carve out a unique career. Silver medalist in Patagonia 2019 and Thailand 2021. Behind Jim Walmsley first, then Stian Angermund. Two different titans, two opposite settings, one constant: the calm and stubborn figure of the Italian crossing the finish line as world runner-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We review those days with Francesco Puppi, as well as his first impressions after scouting the CanfrancPirineos 2025 World Championship course during his recent visit to the Aragonese Pyrenees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patagonia 2019: A Historic Jim Walmsley vs. Francesco Puppi Duel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Villa La Angostura we lived a magical race: the beauty of Patagonia, the snow atop Cerro Bayo. I knew Jim and I were the big favorites and soon after the start, it was just the two of us out front. He escaped once, but I caught him; I summited Cerro Bayo leading, but on that final descent Jim attacked hard, and I, never the best downhill runner, couldn\u2019t keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finish was glorious for Walmsley, who crossed the line in 3:12:16, crowned World Champion. Just a minute later, at 3:13:16, I crossed second, and the bronze came seven minutes after me, won by young Oriol Cardona, confirming the resurgence of the Spanish school as Andreu Sim\u00f3n and Antonio Mart\u00ednez also achieved strong times to become World Champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me personally, that silver was a great day, and I accepted it because Jim is a living legend. But it\u2019s also a bittersweet memory, when you\u2019ve given everything but still fell short of victory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thailand 2021, the humid hell of Chiang Mai: How did you experience your second world silver?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree years had passed, and a pandemic had halted the world. The 2021 Mountain & Trail World Championship, scheduled for Thailand, was postponed to November 2022. It was a very tough season for me, with two elbow fractures and three surgeries, and only at the end of the year did I reach adequate form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Chiang Mai, we faced scorching humidity and temperatures close to 30\u00b0C. Right from the start, Stian took the lead and pushed ahead, but Jonathan Albon, Max King, and I didn\u2019t let him get away and soon caught him. I knew I could run well but didn\u2019t see myself secure on the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when Stian made his second surge, he pulled away. I stayed behind fighting to keep close, knowing that day the strategy would be as much mental as physical. The battle was titanic. Angermund held the lead to the end and was crowned World Champion with 3:08:29. I struggled in the final stretch because Albon is an exceptional downhill runner. Thank God I managed to finish second at 3:11:47, repeating my world silver feat. The bronze went to Jonathan Albon, close behind at 3:13:05.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a very special day because after Spain\u2019s team gold in Patagonia, this time Italy triumphed with a combined time of 9:53:39 thanks also to Andrea Rota (3:19:56) and Christian Minoggio (3:21:57).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you see the CanfrancPirineos 2025 Ultra World Championship after scouting the course?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was very important for me to travel with the Italian team to Canfranc, enjoy its beautiful mountains, and share trail reconnaissance with veterans like Andreas Reiterer. After exploring every meter, I\u2019ve come back even more eager\u2026 or with even more respect for the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I\u2019ve covered the entire route, I know it will be brutal for everyone\u2014alpine and very technical. With continuous climbs and descents, I estimate it will take nearly nine hours to become World Champion at the finish line. I will give everything I have to be up to the task, although we will be racing nearly three times longer than my two previous Marathon silvers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THREE MEDALS ON THREE CONTINENTS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Destiny sometimes writes its most glorious chapters in silver ink. For Francesco Puppi, the Lombard runner who blends elegance and endurance with the determination of one who runs with both head and heart, the World Championships in America and Asia were the stage for epic mountain races. Twice World silver medalist. Twice second to true giants. Twice immortal\u2026 Now he arrives once more at the start line, ready to fight with Walmsley and all his rivals for a third medal, this time in Europe. \u201cIn bocca al lupo.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SERGIO MAYAYO | Press office manager WMTRC 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ultra Trail will be the premier race in distance and elevation gain at the CanfrancPirineos 2025 World Mountain &.. Read more<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1697,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions\/1697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canfrancpirineos2025wmtrc.com\/news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}