Sun, clouds, drizzle, wind. The Patagonian South is that changing on the same day and its inhabitants know it. Well, this Sunday, November 24, the 3,500 runners of the 13th edition of the Gran Fondo 7 Lagosthe traditional cycling competition that this year united the 110 kilometers of the Route of the Seven Lakes between San Martín de los Andes and Villa la Angostura. Of course, it was not just any edition because it had luxury competitors: Lionel Scaloni, Walter Samuel, Pablo Aimar y Gabriela Sabatini.
The coach of the men’s soccer team, cycling fan since he retired as a player and became a regular at tests in Spain, He had the pleasure of beating his colleagues on the coaching staff for quite a distance.
Scaloni finished 35th among the elite, with a time of 3h12m58, while Samuel finished 70th in 4h32m08 and Aimar finished 72nd in 4h42m16. The winner in the category was Sergio Fredes in 2h45m21, followed with the same time by Germán Tivani Pérez.
The technical director described the experience as “spectacular” and highlighted the challenges of the weather. “In the end, with the addition of rain, cold and wind, it was epic. Half an hour after leaving, it started to rain and the cold was intense, so it was doubly gratifying to have arrived,” he commented in Villa la Angostura.
“I’m very happy because we had a good time. It was what we needed: to go out, to be with people, to enjoy the bike a little, which is the passion that unites us, he said. With the team we had a goal after becoming world champions: get together for a bike ride. We had talked about going to the Virgin of Luján, the Virgin of San Nicolás and in the end it never happened due to the fact that we had a game.”
Sabatini looked splendid as always. The best Argentine tennis player in history covered the 110 kilometers in 3h54m23 and finished 11th among the 15 elite. The fastest was María Laura Bugarín in 3h09m41, while fifth was Romina Biagioli (3h20m27), the Olympic triathlete in Paris 2024.
The Vista oil company and the Laureus Foundation chaired by Hugo Porta, present in the South, invited these personalities and the Olympic champion was also present Santiago Lange and the former Olympic pole vaulter Alejandra García Floodwhich ran in mountain bike.
There was challenge from the Combined just on the Route of the Seven Lakes and Scaloni, the head of the group, He made use of his experience and his favoritism. But everyone still won because of the unparalleled adventure.