There are 55 teams and more than 400 athletes on their way to the Abutres TWC- Abutres Trail World Championships, a record number of world championships. The competition takes place in Miranda do Corvo, from 6 to 9 June.
In the men's national teams, the big favourites are Spain and France, but Italy, Great Britain, and the USA are also strong contenders in this World Cup. Romania arrives with 3 world top athletes in its team and Portugal also has a very close-knit team, with the advantage of competing at home.
Among the female teams, the collective victory is expected to be strongly contested between France and Spain, followed by Italy, Great Britain, USA, and Poland.
As far as the individual male performances are conccerned, this is expected to be the most competitive race in the history of trail running, making it difficult to pick the favourites. However, because of the specific nature of the course, Jonathan Albon (Great Britain) and Zaid Ait Malek (Spain) probably stand out, because of their experience with such courses, but also bear in mind Nicolas Martin (France), Tim Tollefson (USA), Marco de Gasperi (Italy), Cristofer Clemente (Spain), and Luis Alberto Hernando (Spain). Portugal’s André Rodrigues, who is currently on excellent form and has already won the Abutres Trails twice, is also a strong candidate for the title.
The strong favourites for the individual women's podium are Azara Garcia dos Salmones (Spain), Ruth Croft (New Zealand), and Ragna Debats (Netherlands).
You can see the athletes and their national teams here.
The Speakers at the Abutres 2019 TWC
Ireland's Eoin Flynn comes directly from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, to give voice to the Abutres Trail World Championships. This ardent lover and practitioner of running and trail running has represented the Ireland National Team on many occasions. At 38, he has made major appearances at some of the biggest Trail Running events in the world, such as the UTMB, Transgrancanaria, Penyagolosa 2018 Trail World Championships, Ultra Trail World Tour Ceremony, and Ultra Sierra Nevada.
João Carvalho, affectionately nicknamed "Joca" by his fellow Portuguese athletes, is without a doubt the perfect commentator. He is a lover of downhill mountain biking and trail running, but it is as a commentator that he has excelled. He has a regular presence at major events in Portugal, notably the Trans Peneda-Gerês 2016 Trail World Championships, MIUT- Madeira IslandUltra Trail, Grande Trail Serra D'Arga, among others. Joca joins the Trilhos dos Abutres team and its resident commentators Pedro Amorim, Hugo Cabral, Carlos Amorim, and Luís Dias for the first time, in the most important event of the year.
Ultra Trilhos dos Abutres has approximately 1000 participants
With almost 1000 participants, the Ultra Trilhos dos Abutres will be a highly contested race. Among the male athletes, the highlight was the Vitória FC Trail Running team, with Diogo Baena, Pedro Ribeiro, and Aite Tamang. Names such as Sergio Sá, Vitor Cordeiro, Luiz Mota, André Duarte, Diogo Pinheiro, Emanuel Machado, and Paulo Conde, runner-up in the 30km race of Trilhos dos Abutres 2018, are also strong contenders.
In the women's categories, Susana Rodriguez, Fernanda Verde, Vera Bernardo, Inês Jordão, Mariana Ballester, Paula Lage, Monique Ribeiro, Daniela Russo, and Sónia Túbal are the main candidates for the title.