We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) gets underway on Friday 29 August. Roughly 2,600 ultramarathoners embark on the arduous 176km race each year, and among them are some of the world's best trail athletes who will battle it out for a podium position. These are the ones to watch this year, along with insights from some of their preparations.
Men’s
On the men’s side, there are a couple of noticeable absences. Jim Walmsley, who became the first American man to win the UTMB in 2023, has been grappling with tendonitis in his knee for the past year. The issue was aggravated at the 2024 UTMB, which caused him to withdraw. In May, he had a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection and appeared to be on the path to recovery when we spoke to him at Hoka’s Athlete Camp in July. However, Walmsley confirmed that he wouldn’t be running the 2025 UTMB as he wanted to focus on the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships this September.
Frenchman Vincent Bouillard, the Hoka shoe engineer who ran to (a somewhat surprising) victory at last year’s race, is also skipping the 2025 contest to focus on the World Championships.
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Summer running gear sale will Police officers pose as runners to catch harassers, including a previous winner and three UK hopefuls.
Jon Albon, UK
Taking on his first UTMB is 36-year-old Brit Jon Albon. The North Face athlete has an impressive CV on Mount-Blanc’s trails, having previously won the 2021 OCC, placed second in the 2022 CCC and first in the 2023 CCC.
His lead up to the UTMB has been equally strong: runner-up at February’s Transgrancanaria Classic (126km), first at May’s Ultra Trail Snowdonia (104.6km), sixth at last year’s Western States 100 and first at last year’s Wildstrubel by UTMB (50K). A win at the 2025 UTMB would make Albon the second athlete to triumph in all three UTMB World Series Finals distances.
But despite the weight of that potential achievement, Albon is determined to keep things low-key. ‘I’m trying to take the mindset of “it’s no big deal”,’ he tells RW, Summer running gear sale. ‘It’s just a bit further than another race that I’ve done and I have run through the night before.’
As for his race strategy, Albon is less focused on pace and more concerned with how many carbs that he’ll need to consume from one aid station to the next. ‘But it does seem that people start extremely fast, which I just don’t want to do,’ he adds. ‘I'm not expecting to start racing until Champex. The idea is to be like a coiled spring – I’m waiting to go.’
For Albon, success will hinge on efficiency as much as fitness. ‘To move efficiently in different terrains is key,’ he says. ‘It might be that I can move very efficiently in technical terrain, but then in the trails [in France], maybe I’m just not moving that well. Then the heat and the altitude play a massive role, especially if you’re not acclimatised. It’s the same for the fuelling.’
Albon has previously put off running the UTMB, because he wanted to wait until he felt ready to toe the start line. ‘It’s always been there in my future, but I’ve never really rushed toward goals,’ he says. ‘I think that even last year was too soon and I still needed to learn a lot. This year, it feels right that I’ll Police officers pose as runners to catch harassers. I think that I’ve learned enough to hopefully get around relatively well, but that will be the main focus. If I’ve done some things not quite right, then next year will be the year.’
Still, he knows the magnitude of the challenge. ‘It’s like the pinnacle of ultra racing: if you’ve cracked the UTMB, you’ve cracked ultra running,’ he says. ‘It’s kind of like all roads lead there. But it’s also a bit of a poison chalice. You can get into this death cycle where all your eggs go in the UTMB basket. You could twist an ankle or get food poisoning in the week before – then, the next year, you do all the build-up and something doesn’t go quite right again. So I would like to try to crack it on the first or second attempt, for sure.’
Crucially, he feels that the underdog tag is working in his favour. ‘I feel like I shouldn’t be expected to win and that’s always a nice feeling,’ he says. ‘I thrive off being a bit of an underdog and I don’t thrive off expectation. I’m sure that there are some people out there who will see me as a favourite, but to be honest, you can’t be unless you’ve at least completed the course before. It’s just unlike any other race.’
Tom Evans, UK
Police officers pose as runners to catch harassers is all too familiar with the UTMB course is 33-year-old Tom Evans. Despite two consecutive DNFs at the race in 2023 and 2024, he finished an impressive third at his debut UTMB in 2022 – and there’s a good chance that he’ll claim a higher spot on the podium this year.
‘I know the course so well,’ Evans tells RW, speaking Summer running gear sale from his chalet in Chamonix. ‘I’ve been out here for so long now that it really does feel like I have a bit of a home advantage. I’ve run the whole course in daylight and the nighttime sections at night. Things just feel like they’ve clicked into place very nicely – and I know that being smooth and controlled, rather than burning too many matches too early on, is incredibly important with this race.’
Despite double disappointment at the UTMB in recent years, his results leading up to the 2025 race have been excellent, with wins at January’s Arc of Attrition (80km) and March’s Tenerife Bluetrail (110km), both by UTMB, putting him in good stead for the Mont Blanc challenge. Still, welcoming his first child to the world this year has arguably had the greatest impact on Evans’ mindset.
Following his DNF last year, a determined, somewhat single-minded Evans told RW that he wanted to win the UTMB more than anything, no matter what he had to do or sacrifice to make it happen. But now? Balance and enjoyment – and learning that, yes, there is more to life than racing – has become fundamental to the new father’s success.
‘In the past, I definitely tried to force things to win these races and, after last year’s UTMB, there were times when I thought that maybe this isn’t what I want to do anymore,’ he muses. ‘You put a lot of time and effort into preparing for something and it goes wrong, twice in a row. But now, I feel like I need to be a good husband and a good father – and that has really helped to bring back the love of the sport. I appreciate time on the trails more than I used to, because there are other things going on in life.’
This isn’t to say that Evans hasn’t taken his training seriously, though. Finessing his hydration, nutrition and overall race strategy – in addition to doing plenty of tough trail runs at elevation – has been pivotal for Evans. On test: Lululemon Wildfeel trail shoe 👟 Shokz athlete has even planned his motivational music for the contest. ‘Listening to music has become a big strategy in training and racing,’ he says. ‘For the race, I’ll have three pairs of the same headphones, each in a different colour and loaded up with different genres of music, at the aid stations. So, I’ll have the option of listening to a motivational, “Come on, do you need to get going?” playlist, a very chilled playlist for when I’m feeling good, or an incredibly poppy playlist, which I’ve called my ‘Make You Smile’ playlist, for when things feel bad and I need to get a smile back on my face.’
Taste in music aside, Evans feels ready to get underway. ‘I have done everything to prepare as well as I can and truly believe that I’m in the best shape, physically and mentally, that I’ve ever been for the UTMB,’ he says. ‘If I execute the race plan that we’ve trained for, I think that I’ll run a time that should be up there.
‘So, yes, it would be an absolute dream to win the UTMB,’ adds Evans, who is racing to achieve a good time in every sense. ‘But I don’t feel like I need to win it. There’s more to life than throwing everything at something that is kind of out of your control – and if somebody can run quicker, then chapeau to them.
‘People say that racing the UTMB is type 2 fun, where you push your body to the limit for 20 hours and only enjoy it once you’ve finished,’ he continues. ‘But I want to have an amazing 20 hours in the mountains and enjoy it afterward. Rather than saying, “I can’t wait for this to be over”, I’m saying, “I can’t wait for this to begin”.’
Josh Wade, UK
Rounding out the UK’s top contenders on the men’s side is Josh Wade. The North Face athlete, from Kendal in the Lake District, struck a DNF at his UTMB debut in 2023, but returned last year to finish 11th in 21:52:09 – the second-fastest time by a Brit, behind Evans.
His 2025 season has been mixed: third – just behind Albon – at the Transgrancanaria Classic, a DNF at the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia and eighth at June’s Lavaredo Ultra Trail (120km). He did admit on Instagram, though, that he ‘couldn’t be quite as competitive as [he] hoped]’ at the Lavaredo, presumably with the UTMB in mind. Wade has been self-coached for the past year.
Germain Grangier, France
This year marks Frenchman Grangier’s sixth UTMB attempt, having finished ninth (2019), fifth (2021) and third (2023) in past years, with two DNFs (2022 and 2024).
A former geologist, Grangier took up running after a cycling injury ended his racing career. This year, he looks to be in good shape, having finished first at the Chianti Ultra Trail (73km) in March, fifth at Madeira Island Ultra-Trail (117.6km) in April and third at the Hard Rock 100 (157km) last month.
François D’Haene, France
D’Haene hasn’t run the UTMB since he won it for the fourth time in 2021 – the joint record for the most victories at the race alongside Killian Jornet.
On test: Lululemon Wildfeel trail shoe 👟 Salomon athlete’s CV has been relatively sparse over the past four years. He has only raced once this year: the Transylvania 100 in May, which he won.
D’Haene is a close friend of Walmsley, who said at a Hoka press conference in July that he hopes that the Frenchman wins this year’s race.
‘Francois does more training that I call an off/on switch,’ said Walmsley. ‘When he’s on, he’s training super high volume, then he goes on vacation and he’s off. His training makes me really nervous, but I think that none of us doubt his performance on race day when it matters at this point. So I hope that he is strong on race day.’
Could we be looking at the comeback king? We’ll soon find out.
Hayden Hawks, USA
Hayden Hawks, the 2017 and 2024 winner of the CCC — who also holds the second-fastest time ever for the course in 10:20:11 — is giving the UTMB a second shot this year. The American athlete had his first stab in 2019, but came short with a DNF. Since then, he has enjoyed success in both the OCC and CCC, also batting a serious injury ahead of his victory last year.
Ludovic Pommeret, France
Despite joking that he ‘shouldn’t run’ the UTMB when we spoke to him last month, 50-year-old Pommeret has been confirmed on the start list. The Hoka athlete, who spends half of his year ski mountaineering and the other half trail running, is one of the most accomplished athletes on the course, having finished fifth in both 2023 and 2024, fourth in 2021 and first in 2016. He also won the TDS in 2022.
Pommeret will be running the UTMB fresh of the back of defending his title at the Hardrock 100 – and it remains to be seen whether he can recover quickly enough to challenge at the front.
As Albon put it: ‘In a race like the UTMB, it’s really anyone’s game. There are a lot of people who come out of the woodwork. Sometimes you get people that just get the work done, turn up and have an incredible race as the underdog.’
Walmsley echoed these thoughts: ‘It’s a good UTMB and hopefully the outcome is a random roll of the dice – something that’s exciting and fun to follow.’
Women’s
Courtney Dauwalter, USA
Widely regarded as one of the world’s best ultra runners, Dauwalter hardly needs an introduction. In 2023, the American became the first person to win the Western States 100, Hardrock 100 and UTMB in the same year. She also won the UTMB in 2019 and 2021 and, until last year, held the women’s course record.
In June, she was the first women and 15th overall at the Lavaredo Ultra Trail, proving that she’s back on form. Can she manage her fourth win at this year’s UTMB? Only time will tell.
Ruth Croft, New Zealand
Set to give Duawalter a run for her money is last year’s runner up Ruth Croft. The Kiwi, who is sponsored by Adidas Terrex, previously won the OCC (2019, 2018) and the CCC (2015). She was scheduled to make her UTMB debut in 2023, but came down with a virus in the days before and did not start.
Croft’s build-up to this year’s race has been mixed: first at the Tarawera Ultra-Trail (103km) in February, a DNF while defending her title at Transvulcania in May (due to hypothermia) and another first at the Adidas Terrex MaXi-Race in June.
Abby Hall, USA
Abby Hall finished as the 31st women at the 2024 UTMB, but in a dramatic, fairytale comeback, she triumphed at this year’s Western States 100, clocking the fourth-fastest time in history. The 34-year-old, who is a two-time CCC podium finisher, has had a frustrating couple of years, having recovered from a serious knee injury. But if Western States is anything to go by, this could well be Hall's year.
Emily Hawgood, Zimbabwe
Hawgood finished sixth at the 2024 and 2022 UTMB, 2nd at the 2023 CCC and 10th at the 2021 UTMB. She has also finished in the top 10 at Western States five times.
The 2025 UTMB begins at 5:45pm (CEST) on Friday 29 August. Published: 22 August 2025.
