UTMB 2017 is now well and truly underway with the first race run and won. The TDS (Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie) is just under 120km with 7250m of climbing.
The runners set off from Courmayeur yesterday and the first man in, Michel Lanne of France, was back in a brilliant 14:33:09. France swept the winner’s podium for the men with a first and joint second, and also got second in the women’s. Vive La France! A nice start for the home team.
TDS starts in the heart of Courmayeur in Italy and runs along the Grande Randonnée routes that cross Mont-Blanc, Beaufort, Tarentaise and the Aosta valley. These valleys around Mont-Blanc were once part of the Savoie State.
The race, typically for the UTMB events, includes several sections at altitudes over 2500m. The highest points are: Arête du Mont-Favre (2435m), Col Chavannes (2603m), Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (2,188m), Passeur de Pralognan (2,567m), Col de la Gitte (2,322m), Col du Tricot (2,120m).
1818 runners lined up at the start point and with a cut-off time of 33hours, there were still a few souls out there at the time of writing this. 549 DNFs were recorded at 0800 BST. You need 3 points obtained from any of the approved qualifying races to register for the event.
Winners
Men
- Michel Lanne, France, 14:33:09
- Antoine Guillon, France, 14:36:14
- Sylvain Camus, France, 14:36:14
Women
- Mimmi Kotka, Sweden, 15:47:07
- Maud Gobert, France, 18:11:54
- Ildiko Wermescher, Hungary, 18:20:05
And finally a big congratulation to Katie Roby who was first British woman back in 19:37:44.
Mimmi Kotka. Photo credit: © UTMB® – photo : Pascal Tournaire.
