Thévenard Joins D'Haene and Jornet At The Very Top

Press Release / 03.09.2018

By winning the UTMB® for the 3rd time, Xavier Thévenard equals François d'Haene and Kilian Jornet in number of victories. This also marks the 6th time he has finished in first place in one of the UTMB® ultras.

The Jura Mountains native ran this year's 170km 9800m vertical gain course in 20:44. "My objective is clear, to run around the Mont-Blanc Range as fast as possible, without worrying too much about the competition. My goal is to finish in a certain time, and if I reach it, I should be in contention to win the race," he explained right before the start.

Xavier Thévenard let this year's two huge favorites, Kilian Jornet (ESP) and Jim Walmsley (USA), shoulder all of the pressure from the media and the public. "You need to know how to stay humble for this type of race, otherwise the mountains will quickly take you to task," he said with emotion at the finish line.

The night saw heavy carnage among the favorites. Jim Walmsley, who started the race at his typically fast pace, slowly but surely began to yield, and by kilometer 80 in Courmayeur (ITA) he was in 19th place. In conditions favoring those with solid experience in the mountains (cold, wind, rain, the snowline at 2500m), the American idol continued his downward spiral with each and every kilometer.

This UTMB® also proved that Kilian Jornet is human just like everyone else. This obvious fact is easy to forget given his recent stratospheric results in every race where he toed the starting line. The Catalan was unable to maintain this dominance at the 2018 UTMB®. A wasp unfortunately ruined his plans. Stung three hours before the start, Kilian had an allergic reaction that forced him to drop out of the race. He turned back at the top of Grand Col Ferret Pass. Luis Alberto Hernando, Sylvain Court, Benoît Cori, Tim Tollefson, as well as other contenders, also joined the group of runners who dropped out.

This left more room for Zach Miller (USA) and Xavier Thévenard, who were in the lead at the time. The two men remained together all the way to La Fouly. However, the climb to Champex Lac proved too much for Zach Miller, who was no longer capable of running; he let Xavier Thévenard pull ahead before also deciding to drop out. 

In the end, the 2018 UTMB® will not be the year where an American stands on the podium. Romanian Robert Hajnaltook advantage of the situation to move into second, ahead of Spaniard Jordi Gamito. With a more than thirty-minute lead in Vallorcine, 20km left until the finish line, and only the final climb to La Flégère to deal with, Xavier Thévenard showed just how seasoned an ultra runner he is, setting the perfect pace for the win and placing a "third notch" in his belt. Romanian Robert Hajnal beat the odds and finished in 2nd place in 21:31, in front of Spaniard Jordi Gamito.

For all results: http://utmb.livetrail.net

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