Delespierre and Roubiol lead France to trail long team titles with wins in Innsbruck

France ruled the day at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck-Stubai on Friday (8), claiming both individual titles in the trail long races through Benjamin Roubiol and Marion Delespierre, who led their nation to gold in the respective team events.

For all those brave enough to toe the line at 6:30am, it proved a gruelling day, with temperatures in the valley rising to 29°C in the afternoon as runners fought their way around the 85km course, which rose high over Alpine mountains, traversing various terrains and featuring vastly different extremes – from the cool, thin air of snow-covered peaks to the lush green valley below, where the heat claimed several casualties.

It was testament to the difficulty of the event that only one runner, Roubiol, made it back to Innsbruck in under 10 hours, the 23-year-old looking utterly depleted afterwards as he explained his magnificent debut at these championships: “I love nature and the elements, ever since I was a child, so it’s a pleasure to us to do this type of effort.” 

Finding pleasure in the pain – a sign of a true champion.

The early kilometres in the men’s race saw Japan’s Yamato Yoshino set off alone, hitting the 8.2km checkpoint with a lead of more than a minute, but his race was done after 17.5km, with Romanian duo Octaviu Raul Butaci and Andrei Gabriel Preda then leading a group of eight up front. As they passed Kreuzjoch just before 30km, France’s Baptiste Chassagne had taken command, with Italy’s Andreas Reiterer giving chase 45 seconds behind. 

Reiterer ratcheted up the pace on the run to Hoadl, where the altitude was a wheeze-inducing 2340m, and the Italian had almost five minutes to spare over Roubiol, the first chaser, at that point. That grew to more than six minutes by the time they reached Salfeins See after 50km, but Roubiol began to close the gap as they reached Birgitz Dorfplatz at 60km, cutting it to 3:41. 

As the trail headed downhill to Innsbruck, Roubiol ran down Reiterer, then opened a 4:18 lead as they reached Aspachhutte after 71.2km, which grew to 9:10 by the time he hit Hottinger Alm after 75km. Roubiol had managed the elements, and all the fuelling challenges that went with them, in masterful fashion. His only mistake? “Maybe I didn’t lace my shoes enough, it caused a bit of pain,” he said. “But when I heard I had 10 minutes in front, I thought it was okay and to realise I was going to win? Wow.”

He hit the finish to a rapturous reception in 9:52:59, with Reiterer second in 10:00:46 and Peter Frano of Slovakia third in 10:02:10, having been the tortoise who outlasted and ultimately outran so many early hares. 

“At halfway I felt really good and I wanted to do my own race,” said Frano. “Third place is really good for me. I knew some runners would start too fast and I focused on myself and didn’t care about other athletes. Last year I was eighth in Thailand and I wanted to do the same today, to do my best race. It’s my first medal. At the line, I didn’t have many feelings, I just wanted to drink and be in the shadows.”

The women’s race saw Czech Republic’s Marcela Vasinova shoot out to an early lead, passing Huhnerspiel after 8.2km with a 46-second advantage, though USA’s Allison Baca swept to the front as they headed for Neustift. Vasinova resumed control of the race on the trail to Kreuzjoch, passing the 28.8km checkpoint with a 4:34 lead over Italy’s Martina Valmassoi. 

Germany’s Katharina Hartmuth changed gears as they climbed towards Hoadl, which she passed with a four-minute lead over Vasinova, which grew to over five minutes when she reached Salfeins after 49km, with France’s Manon Bohard Cailler picking up the chase in second. 

Hartmuth’s lead began to whittle in the third quarter of the race, with Delespierre closing it to 56 seconds as they hit Birgitz Dorfplatz after 60.1km, with Bohard Cailler another 50 seconds back. Delespierre took the lead on the run to Kranebritten, which she passed with a 1:48 advantage over Hartmuth, who was just three seconds clear of Bohard Cailler. Delespierre struggled with cramp up the final incline, but she wasn’t to be denied, coming home in 11:22:31, 6:43 clear of Hartmuth and 11:51 clear of Bohard Cailler, with France taking the team title.

“I’m not a professional athlete, I’m a doctor, and this is a dream,” said Delespierre, whose best previous result at this level was her seventh place last year. “The race was very hard and perfect for me. The last hill was very hard. I had a cramp for the first time in my life and I was very tired, but I wanted to finish first. It’s an incredible result. I’ll celebrate with my family, my friends and with a good beer.”

Hartmuth said she was “really exhausted, of course, but really happy. I like races when it’s tough, I like technical terrain. It was a bit hot today, but the race itself was so great. It’s just special. I suffered a lot on the flatter part before the last climb, I got very bad stitches.”

Bohard Cailler was overjoyed at her bronze. “I’m very surprised, very proud, I wanted to make top 10, maybe top five if I had good legs,” she said. “It’s wonderful, incredible. I am very proud of my race.”

The championships conclude on Saturday (10) with the mountain classic events for senior and U20 runners.

Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

Leading results

Women
1 Marion Delespierre (FRA) 11:22:31
2 Katharina Hartmuth (GER) 11:29:14
3 Manon Bohard Cailler (FRA) 11:34:22
4 Martina Valmassoi (ITA) 11:44:50
5 Rosanna Buchauer (GER) 11:45:58
6 Allison Baca (USA) 11:56:21
7 Emily Schmitz (USA) 11:58:31
8 Mari Klakegg Fenre (NOR) 12:00:57
9 Akiyama Honoka (JPN) 12:01:23
10 Audrey Tanguy (FRA) 12:01:30

Team
1 France (34:58:23)
2 Germany (35:32:01)
3 Italy (36:20:08)

Men
1 Benjamin Roubiol (FRA) 9:52:59
2 Andreas Reiterer (ITA) 10:00:46
3 Peter Frano (SVK) 10:02:10
4 Thibaut Garrivier (FRA) 10:14:49
5 Drew Holmen (USA) 10:15:40
6 Zach Miller (USA) 10:15:45
7 Eric Lipuma (USA) 10:16:52
8 Ramon Manetsch (SUI) 10:17:13
9 Tomas Farnik (CZE) 10:18:02
10 Walter Manser (SUI) 10:19:10

Team
1 France (30:43:09)
2 USA (30:48:17)
3 Italy (31:29:55)