UTMB 2017 departure delayed 30 minutes
The race will leave from Chamonix centre at 18:30
The 2017 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is now in full swing. The most anticipated race of this trail running week, the 171-kilometre UTMB, will leave from the Place du Triangle de l'Amitié in Chamonix (where the tourist office and the church are located) at 18:30 instead of the originally scheduled 18:00 departure.
This is not the only change announced by the organisers. The race's route will also be slightly changed due to forecasted snow above 2000 m and temperatures of -9º. These amendments will affect the crossing of the Col des Pyramides Calcaires, after the border between France and Italy just before the Lac Combal pit stop, and the Tête aux Vents in La Flégère.
Today is the 5th day of the UTMB World Summit of Trail Running and two out of a total of five races have already finished. The UTMB's second toughest course, the TDS which comprises a distance of 119 km and 7200 m of ascent, saw a Frenchman, Michel Lanne, arrive first. Among the women, the winner was Mimmi Kotka from Sweden. The Swiss Marc Laurenstein won the OCC, the shortest race of the week with 56 km and 3500 m of vertical gain, while the Spanish Eli Gordon Rodríguez was the first woman to cross the finish line.
Currently in progress are the CCC (101 km and 6100 m ascent) which departed from Courmayeur this morning at 09:00, and the mammoth PTL (290 km and 26500 m of vertical gain), which left last Monday and will see participants arrive this weekend. This unique race is tackled in teams of three and takes runners all the way around the Mont Blanc massif.
You can follow runners online on the UTMB's official website. Learn more about the races on our Event Preview.
