Recently crowned world 10,000m champion Jimmy Gressier will go head-to-head with European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu on the roads at the Course de l’Escalade in Geneva, Switzerland on 7 December.
This will be Gressier’s first competitive race since winning 10,000m gold at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo before adding 5000m bronze to his medal collection.
Gressier will renew his rivalry with Lobalu who is targeting back-to-back victories - and his third win in total - on home soil in this famous race on a lapped city centre course in Geneva. Lobalu pipped Gressier for victory in a sprint finish last year with both athletes stopping the clock at 20:38 for the 7.323km race.
Since then, Gressier has added significant lustre to his list of achievements. As well as winning two medals at the World Athletics Championships, the Frenchman has set European indoor 5000m (12:54.92) and road 5km (12:57) records and won the half-marathon title in gun-to-tape style at the European Running Championships in 59:45.
Lobalu began his year in excellent form, clocking 26:54 in the Valencia 10km to break the previous European record in a race won by Sweden’s Andreas Almgren. However, the Swiss was a non-finisher over the same distance at the European Running Championships and was only 14th in hot and humid conditions in the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships
Diane van Es from the Netherlands will also defend her title in the women’s race. The European 10,000m silver medallist won last year with a degree of ease, beating home favourite Helen Bekele by 24 seconds.
