UTMB 2017: Mimmi Kotka dominates TDS

France and Sweden the first to finish first to kick off the week for the UTMB®

 

This first race of this year’s UTMB, the TDS, kicked off at 6am on Wednesday. 1818 runners set off on the 119km race with 7200m of ascent.

 

The weather was really good at the start, with incredible views from Col du Petit Saint Bernard, Cormet de Roselend, and Col du Joly passes.

 

The men’s race was exciting, with Michel Lanne taking the lead in the early stages but he was joined by Pascal Guiguet at 30k, with a small group just behind them. By 65k Lanne had pulled away, with a 5 minute gap to Daniel Jung, then 15 minutes back, Sylvain Camus and Antoine Guillou. Camus and Guillou continued to gain on Lanne throughout the rest of the race but Lanne took the win in 14 hours 33 minutes and 9 seconds. "I gave it my all, practically ruining myself, but I won... 100km, 120km, are my best distances, I always have a blast." Sylvain Camus and Antoine Guillon rounded out the men's race for a French sweep, crossing the finish line hand in hand just 3'05" behind Michel Lanne.

 

The women’s race was much more straightforward, with hot favourite, Swede Mimmi Kotka (winner of last year’s CCC) dominating the race from the start. Mimmi had really committed to this race this year, living in Chamonix for several months to prepare for it, and she was head and shoulders above the competition. It’ll be really interesting to see what Mimmi does over the next few years.

 

Mimi finished 10th in the overall ranking (15hrs 47min), crossing the finish line 2hrs 24min ahead of Maud Gobert, and 2hrs 32min ahead of Ildiko Wermescher (3rd) from Hungary.

 

Unfortunately for most of the field, who were out in the mountains a little longer than the runners mentioned above, the weather took a turn for the worst with heavy rain and plummeting temperatures. It looks like the first 12 hours of the TDS saw the best weather of the week! 

 

Results/Key Stats

 

Runners starting: 1818 Runners finishing: 1250 Did not finish: 568 

 

Men

1st: Michel LANNE (6004) – FRA – in 14:33:09

2nd: Antoine GUILLON (6006) – FRA – in 14:36:14 2nd: Sylvain CAMUS (6017) – FRA – in 14:36:14

4th: Ion AZPIROZ (6022) – ESP – in 14:42:19

 

Woment

1st: Mimmi KOTKA (6010) – SWE – in 15:47:07

2nd: Maud GOBERT (6021) – FRA – in 18:11:54

3rd: Ildiko WERMESCHER (6042) – HUN – in 18:20:05

Follow all the action at www.ultratrailmb.com