At 15:00 Beijing time on August 28 (09:00 local time), the 2026 UTMB CCC field officially started in Courmayeur, Italy.1,974 entrants started in four waves; the course is 108.5 km long with total ascent exceeding 6,198 m.
A total of 15 Chinese elite athletes competed — the largest Chinese contingent across all UTMB categories this year.Top women's favorite Yao Miao, the "Big Demon King" Chi Lingjie, and Tang Jingyan; and strong men's contenders Meng Guangfu, Duoji, Luo Canhua, Zhang Huohua, and Luo Tao were among the assembled field.
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Race progress
1. Start (Courmayeur) - (Tête de la Tronche)
Segment distance 9.4 km, segment ascent +1,418 m
After the start gun, French runner Thomas CARDIN surged into the lead; the other elites adopted a conservative strategy — after all, this is a 100-km endurance contest.
Immediately after the CCC start came a major climb; the men's lead group swelled to over 30 runners,with Meng Guangfu, Zhang Huohua and others among them — the climb turned into a "900-point elite traffic jam."
After the midpoint of the segment, French runner Benjamin ROUBIOL led; on the women's side,Yao Miao successfully overtookAmerican runner Helen MINO FAUKNER, temporarily in first place.
Benjamin ROUBIOL At the first timing point, Duoji was 10th to arrive, Luo Tao 15th, Meng Guangfu 18th.
Among the women, Yao Miao was first to arrive, leading second-place Honoka AKIYAMA by 1 minute 13 seconds and third-place Toni MCCANN by 2 minutes 10 seconds.
2、( Tête de la Tronche ) - ( Refuge Bertone )
Segment distance 4.2 km, segment ascent 18 m
After a 4.2 km downhill section,Benjamin ROUBIOL and ThomasCARDINcontinued to lead,Duoji arrived 7th, Zhang Huohua 15th, Luo Tao 20th, Meng Guangfu 21st at the aid station.
Yao Miao held the lead, first among the women and 75th overall, but the Japanese runnerHonoka AKIYAMA was close behind,38 seconds back, ToniMCCANN 51 seconds back, the gap was shrinking, and the "Great Demon King" Chi Lingjie reached 23rd among the women.
3、( Refuge Bertone ) - ( Refuge Bonatti )
Segment distance 7.5km, segment ascent 322 m+
After refilling, the runners set off and the rain grew heavier.
But soon, American runners Hans TROYER and Eli HEMMING caught the two leading French runnersBenjamin ROUBIOL and ThomasCARDIN, the four formed the lead group.
Hans TROYER An overtake put someone into first, a gain of 7 places on the segment. Duoji 6th, Zhang Huohua 12th, Meng Guangfu and Luo Tao 18th and 19th; the Chinese men's elites all made slight gains.
Yao Miao still held a 35-second lead; the battle for women's second and third was intense, Helen MINO FAUKNER overtook HonokaAKIYAMA，Toni MCCANN overtook Honoka, then Honoka re-overtook Helen to move into women's second.
4、( Refuge Bonatti ) - ( Arnouvaz )
Segment distance 5.2km, segment ascent 150 m+
At the fourth CP, Thomas CARDIN successfully returned to first,the gap across the men's top 12 was no more than 37 seconds,Duoji was 7th, Zhang Huohua 11th, Meng Guangfu and Luo Tao entered the station together, advancing to 16th and 17th respectively.
Yao Miao entered the station with a slim 3-second advantage over Toni MCCANN; women's thirdHelen MINO FAUKNER was 1 minute 50 seconds behind the top two. Before CP5, can Yao Miao use the climb to extend her lead?
5、( Arnouvaz ) - ( Grand Col Ferret )
Section distance 4.5 km, elevation gain 762 m+
At 30.8 km, Yao Miao clocked 3:42:37 and remained the women's leader, women's secondToni MCCANN trailed Yao Miao by 32 seconds; Honoka AKIYAMA and Jennifer LICHTER held third and fourth among the women, already 3 minutes down.
Currently the 2024 CCC women's championToni MCCANN is Yao Miao's biggest rival.
6、( Grand Col Ferret ) - ( La Fouly )
Section distance 9.9 km, elevation gain 104 m+
Runners will face an approximately 10 km long descent until reaching CP6.
Two American runners (Hans TROYER and Eli HEMMING)arrived at CP6 one after the other, 20 seconds ahead of the third-placed Polish runner Andrzej WITEK.
Duoji was 9th, exactly 2 minutes behind first; Zhang Huohua was 11th, Meng Guangfu 14th. At the next CP, could two Chinese runners appear in the top ten?
Atabout 13 minutes after leaving CP5, Yao Miao wasovertaken by Toni MCCANN, but the 100 km race was not yet half over.
Arriving at the La Fouly aid station, Yao Miao trailedToni MCCANNby just 11 seconds,Jennifer LICHTER moved up to third among the women, but was already nearly 6 minutes behind the top two. "Xiao Shuang" Tang Jingyan regrettably withdrew at La Fouly due to health reasons.
7、( La Fouly ) - ( Champex-Lac )
Section distance 13.5 km, elevation gain 513 m+
At 54.2 km, the gap among the men's top five was less than 2 minutes. Two American runners were still leading; the men's third place changed, with Cristian MINOGGIO moving into third, only 17 seconds behind the leader.
Duoji, Meng Guangfu and Zhang Huohua arrived one after another, provisionally occupying men's 12th–14th places.
The race has entered the second-half battles. After a roughly 10+ km descent losing nearly 800 m, runners will face a long climb of about 10 km with 1000 m of ascent.
At time of writing, the men's lead pack was approaching Trient at 79.1 km, the experiencedCristian MINOGGIO surged to the front among the men. The women's lead pack was around 70 km,Toni MCCANN continued to hold the lead but was blocked by a "train," and second-placed Yao Miao caught up with Toni MCCANN there.
How the battle for the men's and women's titles will unfold next, and what surprises the Chinese athletes will bring—let's look forward to it together.
Paoye Da Baozha will continue to follow the event and will publish a detailed race report tomorrow together with coverage of the UTMB categories; please continue to follow Paoye Da Baozha's live streams across all platforms. As of press time, Yao Miao is first in the women's standings.
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Writing/Editing: HP/MP
Image source: Pao Ye Da Bao Zha
Visuals: Max
