UTMB CCC: Thibaut Garrivier and Marta Molist Codina win 100km in Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix
- Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc’s 101km Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix men’s race features three-way battle after blistering start
- Stian Angermund of Norway was outpacing the trackers before French runners took control
With perfect conditions for a fast race, the battle for the men’s title was expected to be between defending champion Luis Alberto Hernando from Spain and Stian Angermund of Norway.
The Norwegian, a shorter distance and vertical race specialist, began his first ever 100-km race in the lead.
Angermund was even outpacing the tracking algorithm, turning up at checkpoints faster than predicted.
A new men’s course record, bettering the 10 hours 24 minutes by Hayden Hawks in 2016, looked a certainty – though not the women’s, where the 11 hours and 57 minutes set by Chinese runner Yao Miao when she won the 2018 event seems untouchable.
Approaching Arnouvaz at 26km, the top 16 male runners were all within four minutes of each other. Hernando was shadowing Angermund, while New Zealand’s Scott Hawker, France’s Thibaut Baronian and Thibaut Garrivier, Spain’s Pere Aurell and Italy’s Marco De Gasperi were following closely.
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The women’s field splintered quickly – by 20km there was a 16-minute difference between first and 10th place – with Czech runner Petra Sevcikova in the firm lead.
The climb to the 2,603m Grand Col Ferret is where the runners usually start to disperse, and it was true yet again.
Leader Angermund ran up with ease. Close behind were Garrivier, Baronian, and Hernando. From Grand Col Ferret it is 20km downhill before a short climb to Champex-Lac.
Tired from the charge up, Angermund held the lead till Champex, where he was overtaken by Garrivier, the 2019 CCC runner-up. The Norwegian eventually dropped out of the race altogether.
Champex-Lac also saw the end of Hernando, who stopped because of a hurt ankle.
Baronian also overtook Angermund to leave the Frenchmen battling for the lead. Garrivier prevailed. By the descent to Vallorcine at 80km, he was eight minutes ahead of the course record, and 17 minutes ahead of Baronian.
The French pair were being chased down by Hawker, and the Kiwi overtook Baronian just before Vallorcine. Garrivier won the men’s race in 10:23:26, just under the previous course record.
The crowd was delighted to see a French runner win and take down a record. France now has a winner in every major race in this year’s UTMB. Hawker finished second in 10:47:52, and Baronian third in 10:53:08.
In the women’s division, Sevcikova held the lead until Les Tseppes, 74km into the race, where she was finally caught by Molist Codina. Sevcikova seemed to be suffering from cramps.
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Molist Codina, in her first ever 100km, won the race for Spain in 12:50:48. Hall was second in 13:04:14, and Sevcikova third in 13:21:10.
