At the start of the event, a current world champion, Marianne Vlasveld of the Netherlands and two former world champions, Marc Ruhe and Liechenstein and Nicolas Lebrun of France were the odds on favourites.

At precisely 10.00 a.m., as promised, just as the sun began to change the snow into water, the race started. 

The run course was delightful, with 7.7km along the Sesia river to Alagna, crossing the village via narrows streets, then returning to the main area.  By the time the elite men returned, Marc Ruhe and Nicolas Lebrun had a solid lead after running the first leg shoulder to shoulder.

The chase pack consisted of Walter Polla of Italy, Christoph Mauch of Switzerland, the youthful Daniel Antonioli of Italy and Falk Gopfert of Germany.  They arrived at the run to bike transition area 55 second behind Ruhe and Lebrun.

Meanwhile in the elite women’s event, Marianne Vlasveld opened a small gap of 7 seconds on the local hero Stephanie Bonazzi, with Jutte Schubert of Germany a further 3 seconds back.The two laps bike segment travelled along each side of the Sesia and included a variety of terrains; snow, stones, and grass. 

The conditions of the course were also varied; technical, flat and fast, with exciting downhill sections.  This was the time when the bike specialist could gain time. Nicolas Lebrun and Marc Ruhe continued to run neck and neck at the front through the bike section, fighting against each other and maintaining the gap to the chase group, which was now reduced to Christoph Mauch and Thomas Schrenk.  By the time the pair at the front entered the second transition, they had a 1 minute lead of Mauch and Schrenk. 

In the women’s event Marianne Vlasveld, an incredible biker did not miss her chance to put an end to all contenders during the bike segment.  By the bike to ski transition, her lead had grown to 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

Marc Ruhe made a fast transition and was onto the final cross-country skate-ski segment a full 10 seconds ahead of Nicolas Lebrun.  But Lebrun did not throw in the towel at this point, but caught Ruhe by the end of the first of four laps.  United again, the pair skated stride for stride for the next two laps. 

However, in the final lap Marc Ruhe escapes from Lebrun’s grip and romped home for his first World Cup win of 2003.  Falk Gopfert made a huge comeback in the final segment to completes the podium.Marianne Vlasveld gracefully skied skied home to take the victory, almost 9 minutes ahead of Jutta Schubert.  Stephanie Bonazzi delighted the home town crowd by taking the bronze.  Although Schubert and Bonazzi exited the bike to ski transition together, the superior skiing technique of the German athletes proved to be the difference.

Top 3 Results:
1. Marianne Vlasveld (NED)      1.41.32
2. Jutta Schubert (GER)      1.50.25
3. Stefania Bonazzi (ITA)      1.51.41

1.   Marc Ruhe (LIE)                1.26.17
2. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA)      1.26.35
3.  Falk Gopfert (GER)       1.28.25

Post-race Story by Enrique Quesada, ITU Technical Delegate