unknown at the start, the Frenchman Vincent Bouillard wins to everyone’s surprise

Frenchman Vincent Bouillard created a surprise by winning the 21st edition of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) on Saturday 31 August, after several of the favourites had dropped out. Originally from Annecy, aged 31 and relatively unknown in the world of top-level trail running, he was quite far down (69th) on the list of favourites at the start and is not a member of a sponsored team.

However, Vincent Bouillard ran a large part of the race alone in the lead for his first participation in the UTMB and completed the course in 19 hours 54 minutes and 23 seconds, becoming a member of a very select club of runners who have completed the race in less than twenty hours. He succeeds the American Jim Walmsley who was aiming for a double but had to abandon after about nine hours of racing and 83 km due to a knee injury.

An engineer by profession, specializing in the development of shoes for the equipment manufacturer Hoka, Vincent Bouillard had previously only run one so-called “100-mile” race (about 160 km), the Kodiak Ultra Marathons last October in California, which he won. His record, however, includes victories or good rankings in several other shorter races, such as the Gorge Waterfalls (United States) in 2023 (1st) or the MaXi-Race of Lake Annecy in January (5th).

The Tricolore is however not the only Frenchman on the podium because he is accompanied by Baptiste Chassagne, while waiting for the arrival of other pursuers. In the women’s race, theAmerican Katie Schide, already victorious in 2022, won with a time of 22h 09 min 31 sec, succeeding her compatriot Courtney Dauwalter, absent this year.