Announcement from the Golden Trail Series presented by Salomon Running | October 29th, 2022, Start 9:00 AM, 26.2 KM, 1,940 meters V+ | Curral Das Freiras, Madeira, Portugal. Above photo: @jsaragossa.
Eli Hemming (USA) finished 10th in the men’s stage 4 race. Tabor Hemming (USA) finished 23rd in the women’s stage 4 race.
By winning the fourth stage of the Grand Final in Madeira, Rémi Bonnet and Nienke Brinkman are the definitive winners of the 2022 Golden Trail World Series!
They don’t need to wait for the last stage of the final! With respectively 222 and 207 points ahead of their immediate pursuers, Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon/Red Bull, Switzerland) and Nienke Brinkman (Team Nike Trail, The Netherlands) can no longer be caught in the overall ranking and therefore officially win the Golden Trail World Series 2022.
“I was expecting it a bit,” admitted Rémi at the finish line. “Even if it wasn’t official yet, I wasn’t missing a lot of points to get the title. But it’s brilliant because my season didn’t start out too great, and so it’s proof that you should never give up because you never know how it will turn out in the end. It’s good motivation for me to remind myself to never give up on anything!”
If she could, she was counting on having a hefty lead, but Nienke Brinkman seemed taken aback by this announcement at the finish line!
“Oh really?” she said in astonishment when being interviewed, and immediately threw herself into her family’s arms. “This means so much to me! The season couldn’t have been better, I’m so happy, I can’t believe it! I hadn’t realised it was possible to win today, it’s fantastic! I will be able to relax tomorrow!” she said laughing.
Bailey Kowalczyk. Photo: @jsaragossa
Women’s Race
Like her male counterpart, Nienke Brinkman gave everything she had to take victory on this fourth stage.
“The end was so brutal, I’m trashed,” she says with an exhausted smile. “Sophia was really strong, she even passed me at one point, but on the flat section I knew I could catch up with her so I gave it everything I had. I thought at one point she’d catch me on the downhill, but it was more runnable than the first downhill so I could keep hold of my first place.”
Therefore, Sophia Laukli (Team Salomon, USA) took second place, she had said yesterday that she wasn’t going to take the start line today.
“I made the decision this morning because I was feeling in good shape. I was worried I wasn’t going to be great in the downhill, so I really hammered it in the first climb. But then I saw Nienke catching up with me. I thought I could maybe catch her again later, but she was too strong. One thing is for sure – I really had fun out there today!”
In third place was Élise Poncet (Team Sidas X Matryx, France), she had taken a rain check yesterday to rest.
“I think it was an excellent strategy. I didn’t run yesterday, and I really optimised my recovery. Which meant that today my legs were revving, and I really had a lot of fun! The second day was so tough and today I’ve confirmed my status with another great result so I’m ecstatic! Tomorrow I will be on the start line and hope to finish with a bang!”
Eli Hemming. Photo: @jsaragossa
Men’s Race
Rémi Bonnet’s title is thanks to yet another victory, his third in this final, his fifth of the season.
“I had planned to pull in the reins a bit today,” he explains, “so I held back. But quickly, when I saw they were pushing on the climb, I thought; ‘no way! That’s my place!’ So, I took the lead and dug in deep. My legs were smoking so I forged a great gap. But later I didn’t really know where everyone else was, so I just kept on pushing. I was afraid they’d catch me on the downhill but in the end the gap was too big, and I did it!”
In second position was yesterday’s winner: Elhousine Elazzaoui (Team Pini Mountain Racing, Morocco).
“I had a nagging pain in my ankle until kilometre 15. I was careful and managed my race well by drinking properly. Then I started feeling better and I could really accelerate. I’m really happy with my result today, and I would like to manage my race in the same way tomorrow.”
Ruy Ueda (Team Red Bull, Japan) careered into third place.
“My strategy was the same as I used at the Marathon du Mont-Blanc; to start at my own pace and attack hard at the end. I even thought I could overtake Elhousine on the climb, but in the end, he had more power than me! I’ll try again tomorrow to get a good result and strengthen my standing in the overall ranking!”
Tabor Hemming. Photo: @jsaragossa.
OPEN Category
In the OPEN category, it was Manuel Innerhofer (Team Salomon, Austria) and Malen Osa (Team Salomon, Spain) who won this fourth stage.
“I felt really good today. It set off a bit too slow for me, but overall, it was a great stage for me. I’m pleased to have been able to win some time in the overall ranking and I see that my teammate Thomas Roach is also well placed in the standings so I can’t wait for tomorrow!”
Malen Osa crossed the finish line in tears, winning herself a stunning 5th place in the women’s overall.
“It’s incredible! I was toast and I even thought I wouldn’t manage to reach the finish line. And I’ve made the top 5 alongside the world’s best athletes. I can’t believe it! I hope I can do as well as that tomorrow and finish at the top of the OPEN rankings.”
GTNS Teams
The GTNS podium hadn’t really changed since the beginning of the week, this stage shook up the third position. After two withdrawals for the GTNS FRA, the team fell to 5th place in the overall rankings and therefore gave their seat to the GTNS ESP/POR team. On the other hand, up front the GTNS ALL/AUT/CHE secure their first place with GTNS ITALY in tow in second place.
Results
ELITES – STAGE 4
Men
1 – RÉMI BONNET (CHE – SALOMON/RED BULL): 02:22:27 (+100 pts)
2 – ELHOUSINE ELAZZAOUI (MAR – PINI MOUNTAIN RACING): 02:30:14 (+88 pts)
3 – RUY UEDA (JAP – RED BULL): 02:31:10 (+78 pts)
4 – THIBAUT BARONIAN (FRA – SALOMON): 02:32:09 (+72 pts)
5 – ROBERT PKEMBOI (KEN – SKYRUNNERS KENYA) 02:33:02 (+68 pts)
Women
1 – NIENKE BRINKMAN (NLD – NIKE TRAIL): 02:50:14 (+100 pts)
2 – SOPHIA LAUKLI (USA – SALOMON) : 02:54:15 (+ 88 pts)
3 – ÉLISE PONCET (FRA – SIDAS X MATRYX): 02:56:20 (+ 78 pts)
4 – BAILEY KOWALCZYK (USA – SALOMON): 03:00:18 (+ 72 pts)
5 – MALEN OSA (ESP – SALOMON): 03:02:35 (+68 pts)
OVERALL RANKING
Men
1 – RÉMI BONNET (CHE – SALOMON/RED BULL): 868 pts
2 – THIBAUT BARONIAN (FRA – SALOMON): 646 pts
3 – ELHOUSINE ELAZZAOUI (MAR – PINI MOUNTAIN RACING): 632 pts
4 – RUY UEDA (JAP – RED BULL): 614 pts
5 – ELI HEMMING (USA – AEROBIC MONSTERS): 581 pts
Women
1 – NIENKE BRINKMAN (NLD – NIKE TRAIL): 938 pts
2 – SOPHIA LAUKLI (USA – SALOMON): 731 pts
3 – SARA ALONSO (ESP – SALOMON): 717 pts
4 – ÉLISE PONCET (FRA – SIDAS X MATRYX): 646 pts
5 – CAITLIN FIELDER (NZL – SALOMON): 618 pts
GTNS TEAMS OVERALL RANKING
1 – GTNS GER/AUT/CHE: 35:07:00
2 – GTNS ITALY: 36:10:00
3 – GTNS ESP/POR: 37:56:00
4 – GTNS JAPAN: 39:03:00
5 – GTNS FRA: 39:16:00
Editor’s Note: Athletes competing in the Golden Trail Series are forced to participate in the QUARTZ health policy – a non-WADA complaint testing regime that purports to be an anti-doping program.
Two-time World Mountain Running Champion Joseph Gray said the following about QUARTZ after his refusal to participate at Golden Trail Series race Pikes Peak Ascent this past August “My decision not to participate in the QUARTZ testing at Pikes Peak is based on my opinion that this is not a sufficient drug testing program compared to US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which I am completely compliant with. In my opinion, our sport needs real drug testing, not a company parading as one yet only serving as a “health checkup.”
You can learn more about WADA anti-doping and other testing programs in our six part clean sport series written by 2017 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championship silver medalist Tayte Pollmann.
