Scicli, Italy - Once again, Martin Lel is the "King" of Scicli. As in 2006, the Kenyan took top honours at the Memorial Peppe Greco on Saturday (4), a 10Km loop race held in this little town in the south of Sicily. He out-sprinted countrymate Paul Kosgei and Ethiopia's Eshetu Wondimu, with a time of 29:02. Olympic Marathon champion Stefano Baldini finished fifth.

Since the race has been contested at an elite level, only Haile Gebrselassie has produced back-to-back wins. The Ethiopian won four consecutive times 1995 to 1998. Apart from Gebrselassie, only Kenya's Paul Tergat has won twice before Lel, in 1994 and 1999. Also, strong champions such as Kenenisa Bekele, Charles Kamathi, Hailu Mekonnen, Sileshi Sihine are among the previous winners of the Memorial, held on a difficult course (10 one-kilometre laps), with a 300m uphill stretch over stones on every lap.

Same victory, different tactics

The former World Half Marathon champion and two-time winner of the Flora London and ING New York City Marathons, repeated last year's victory but ran in a very different way. In 2006 he aimed for the course record of 28:22, set by Gebrselassie in 1998, and at halfway was already alone at a 14:07 clip. This year the pace was slower with many more rivals keeping his company. in the race.

After five laps the pack still included six men, with Kenya's Francis Kibiwott and Uganda's Jeoffrey Kusuru running shoulder-to-shoulder with Lel, Kosgei, Wondimu and Baldini, reaching the 5Km split time in 14:32. During the seventh lap Baldini and Kusuru faded, leaving the quartet battling for the win until the final lap.

The first attack came from Kosgei, but Lel, who is well known as one of the best sprinters among road runners, followed him easily and markedly increased the pace. His final lap split was a stunning 2:41, although his time is a little slower than last year's 28:45. Kosgei, who was a last minute entry, beat Wondimu for the runner-up spot, while Kibiwott closed in fourth place.

Baldini, who had been dropped by Kusuru during the eighth lap, caught and outsprinted him in the final stages, closing 31 seconds behind Lel. He ran much better than in Castelbuono, where he was 1:10 behind the winner, José Manuel Martinez.

Lel - "Italy for me is a kind of second home"

After crossing the finish line, Lel was literally "assaulted" by the crowd, and a pair of members of the LOC (included the president Gianni Voi) lifted him up on their shoulder.

"Italy for me is a kind of second home," Lel said. He had been training for a month in Italy with his group, but in few days will return to Kenya. "I'm going to run the New York City Marathon and will prepare it at home," he said.

Lel was very satisfied with his race. "I came back in Scicli to win and I was sure I could got it, as my shape is really good. This year the race was thougher,. There were many strong rivals and in the beginning it was a tactical pace, we controlled each other."

It was Lel's first race since his second London Marathon victory. "Before New York I will surely run a couple of race, one over the 10km distance and one Half Marathon."

"During the last lap for a while I even thought I could win, but Martin was stronger than me," Kosgei admitted. "I decided to run as my training was going very well and it was the right choice," added Kosgei, who came to Italy directly from Kenya. Kosgei was the 2002 World Half Marathon champion, a title that also Lel (2003) and Baldini (1996) have won in their careers. His next big goal is the Amsterdam Marathon on 21 October.

Baldini still undecided on Udine

Baldini, who had won in Scicli two years ago, was the crowd favourite, but is not at top shape at the moment. In Castelbuono last week he admitted he ran a "very bad race," but yesterday was more optimistic.

"After Castelbuono I was very worried," he said honestly. "Today I ran better on a course that fits much more to me. I had not been able to follow the pace of the pack when they pushed hard, but I closed well."

After another month of high level training, Baldini will come back to race at the Lisbon Half Marathon on 16 September. "It will be the most important test to decide whether I'll be running at the World Road Running Championships in Udine or not. With such guys like Wanjiru or Tadesse, I will race just as if I could run in 61 minutes or faster." Baldini said he is still looking for a Marathon for the fall. If he runs in Udine, the alternatives would be reduced to two: New York or Fukuoka.

Alberto Zorzi for the IAAF

Selected results (10km)
1. Martin Lel, KEN, 29:02
2. Paul Kosgei, KEN, 29:04
3. Eshetu Wondimu, ETH, 29:07
4. Francis Kibiwott, KEN, 29:09
5. Stefano Baldini, ITA, 29:33
6. Jeoffrey Kusuru, UGA, 29:33
7. Elias Chelimo Kemboi, KEN, 30:30
8. Salvatore Vincenti, ITA, 30:30