Wildstrubel by UTMB: Elazzaoui Wins the 50K as Schicktanz Takes the 100M
Agathe Bes first woman to cross the finish line in 100K. Photo : © UTMB® Franck Oddoux
Wildstrubel by UTMB brought another busy weekend of racing to the Swiss Alps, with everything from a tight battle in the 50K to more than 14 hours of racing at the front of the 100M.
For us, there was also a Norwegian performance worth noting.
Schicktanz wins the 100M, Steien takes fifth
Gian Marchet Schicktanz delivered the standout performance in the longest race of the weekend, winning the Wild 110 Crans-Montana in 12:00:00.
The Swiss runner had already established himself at the front during the night and eventually reached Crans-Montana ten minutes ahead of Italy's Andreas Reiterer, who finished second in 12:10:34. Belgium's Charles Van Tiggelen completed the podium in 12:27:50.
Further back, Aasmund Kjøllmoen Steien put together an excellent second half.
The Norwegian was seventh after 86.2 kilometres but continued to move through the field, eventually reaching the finish in fifth overall in 13:09:39. Running for Salomon Norway, Steien finished a little over an hour behind Schicktanz after 113.4 kilometres and 6,285 metres of climbing.
The women's race went to Poland's Agnieszka Dygacz, who finished in 14:44:43 and placed 26th overall. Magali Mellon was second in 15:02:15, with Maria Liikanen third in 16:08:31.
Elazzaoui gets it done in the 50K
The Wild 55 produced the closest racing at the front.
At 43.5 kilometres, only 11 seconds separated Tibère Debizet and Elhousine Elazzaoui. The Moroccan Golden Trail star eventually turned the race around, reaching the finish first in 4:49:05.
Debizet followed just 22 seconds later, making this one of the tightest finishes of the Wildstrubel weekend.
Gaspard Ravaux-Ouvray took third in 4:55:20, a little over six minutes behind Elazzaoui.
Norway's Erik Kårvatn also had a strong race. After sitting ninth earlier in the day, Kårvatn eventually finished eighth overall in 5:17:51.
In the women's race, Julie Lelong took the victory in 5:41:24, ahead of Swiss runner Rea Iseli in 5:50:43 and Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet in 5:56:45.
Agnieszka Dygacz wins the 100M race. Photo : © UTMB® Franck Oddoux
Less than three minutes separate the 100K podium
The Wild 70 Kandersteg produced another close men's race.
France's Dimitri Morel-Jean won in 7:08:38, but there was almost nothing between the first three. Karol Matyssek crossed the line 1:16 later in 7:09:54, while HOKA's Thibaut Garrivier finished third in 7:10:52.
That put the entire podium inside 2 minutes and 14 seconds after more than seven hours of racing.
The women's race was won by Agathe Bes in 8:07:10. Alexandra Cassan-Ferrier finished second in 8:12:47, while NNormal athlete Lucille Germain took third in 8:23:28.
Wildstrubel keeps delivering
Wildstrubel sits in an interesting part of the UTMB calendar. Chamonix has only just finished, many of the biggest names are already looking toward the final races of the season, yet the fields in Switzerland still produced some very good racing.
Elazzaoui winning by 22 seconds certainly helped.
So did a 100K podium separated by barely two minutes.
And from a Norwegian perspective, fifth for Aasmund Kjøllmoen Steien in the 100M and eighth for Erik Kårvatn in the 50K made this a weekend worth paying attention to.
Men
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gian Marchet Schicktanz | SUI | 12:00:00 |
| 2 | Andreas Reiterer | ITA | 12:10:34 |
| 3 | Charles Van Tiggelen | BEL | 12:27:50 |
| 4 | Clément Mugnier | FRA | 12:58:46 |
| 5 | Aasmund Kjøllmoen Steien | NOR | 13:09:39 |
| 6 | Antoine Appia | SUI | 13:28:27 |
| 7 | Mathieu Esmieu | FRA | 13:30:34 |
| 8 | Hector Rodriguez | MEX | 13:31:53 |
Women
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agnieszka Dygacz | POL | 14:44:43 |
| 2 | Magali Mellon | FRA | 15:02:15 |
| 3 | Maria Liikanen | FIN | 16:08:31 |
| 4 | Sophia Lehmann | SUI | 16:51:13 |
| 5 | Lucile Besson | FRA | 17:11:01 |
| 6 | Cyrielle Baroni | FRA | 17:25:16 |
| 7 | Anne-Laure Dufourd Peduzzi | FRA | 17:40:56 |
| 8 | Maggali Vionnet | SUI | 17:41:14 |
Men
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dimitri Morel-Jean | FRA | 7:08:38 |
| 2 | Karol Matyssek | POL | 7:09:54 |
| 3 | Thibaut Garrivier | FRA | 7:10:52 |
| 4 | Baptiste Ellmenreich | FRA | 7:13:42 |
| 5 | Thijs De Lange | NED | 7:26:14 |
| 6 | Didier Dario Chanoine | ITA | 7:27:49 |
| 7 | Pierre-André Anizan | FRA | 7:27:53 |
| 8 | William Déglise | SUI | 7:28:21 |
Women
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agathe Bes | FRA | 8:07:10 |
| 2 | Alexandra Cassan-Ferrier | FRA | 8:12:47 |
| 3 | Lucille Germain | FRA | 8:23:28 |
| 4 | Camille Poquet | FRA | 8:40:44 |
| 5 | Mirjam Niederberger | SUI | 8:41:40 |
| 6 | Jessica Brazeau | USA | 8:57:00 |
| 7 | Elizabeth Ungermanova | CZE | 9:00:36 |
| 8 | Capucine Arbez-Gindre | FRA | 9:05:39 |
| 9 | Erika Flowers | USA | 9:24:03 |
Men
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elhousine Elazzaoui | MAR | 4:49:05 |
| 2 | Tibère Debizet | FRA | 4:49:27 |
| 3 | Gaspard Ravaux-Ouvray | FRA | 4:55:20 |
| 4 | Jonathan Schmid | SUI | 4:59:44 |
| 5 | Pierre Pollet | FRA | 5:01:07 |
| 6 | Alessandro Riva | ITA | 5:03:30 |
| 7 | Titouan Haan | FRA | 5:13:41 |
| 8 | Erik Kårvatn | NOR | 5:17:51 |
Women
| POS. | RUNNER | NATION | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julie Lelong | FRA | 5:41:24 |
| 2 | Rea Iseli | SUI | 5:50:43 |
| 3 | Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet | FRA | 5:56:45 |
| 4 | Chloé François | FRA | 6:02:43 |
| 5 | Carmen Kaar | AUT | 6:09:17 |
| 6 | Rebecca Kohne | RSA | 6:12:30 |
| 7 | Tanja Kühn | GER | 6:20:04 |
| 8 | Claudia Chmielowska | POL | 6:22:57 |
