Teixido and Mityaeva take Santana VK

Ekaterina Mityaeva, winner of the first Santana Vertical. ©iancorless.com / VKWC

The inaugural Santana Vertical Kilometer® kicked off on Friday, June 2 on the island of Madeira, Portugal, fourth stage of the new Vertical Kilometer® World Circuit.

A field of 81 athletes from ten countries raced to 1,787m altitude, high above the clouds below which had accompanied the race start. First man was Andorran Ferran Teixido who summited in 41’48” after racing 1,003m vertical climb over a 4.8 km long course.

The win puts Teixido on top of the ranking after racing in three of the four races staged to date, followed by Norwegian Stian Angermund and Saul Padua from Columbia.

Ferran Teixido, ranking leader after Santana Vertical win. ©iancorless.com / VKWC

In the women’s category, Russian Ekaterina Mityaeva pushed hard to take the win in 51’37” and now shares a third position on the ranking with Spaniard Laura Orgué and Yuri Yoshizumi from Japan. Italian Stephanie Jimenez leads the current ranking.

The entire course is set in the Madeira Nature Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, significant for its laurel forest. The final part of the climb, highly technical and physically demanding, comprises a steep via ferrata section.

The race was part of the weekend’s Ultra Madeira SkyMarathon® events which count some 1,000 participants from 29 countries overall.

Ekaterina Mityaeva and Ferrand Teixido celebrating on the podium. ©iancorless.com / VKWC

The race marks the fourth event in the new Vertical Kilometer® World Circuit, a spin-off of the Skyrunner® World Series which counts eighteen races in eight countries.

Santana Vertical Kilometer® results
Men

  1. Ferran Teixidó (AND) – 41’48”
  2. Vitor Jesus (POR) – 44’05”
  3. Romeu Couveia (POR) – 44’11”
  4. José Luis Marchai (ESP) – 46’07”
  5. Gonçalo Luís (POR) – 48’18”

Women

  1. Ekaterina Mityaeva (RUS) – 51’37”
  2. Cristina Nascimento (POR) – 52’30”
  3. Anna Frost (NZL) – 55’57”
  4. Leire Fernández Abete (ESP) – 56’05”
  5. Susana Lourenço (POR) 1h02’10”

Full race results

Vertical Kilometer® World Circuit ranking

Race details

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