The clock at the Place du Triangle de l'Amitié doesn’t lie, and this year it’s pointing straight at Stian Angermund’s course record. The real buzz in the valley isn’t just the scale of the event, but Rémi Bonnet’s technical obsession with demolishing the 3:35:04 mark at this Sunday’s 42km du Mont-Blanc. The Swiss athlete arrives in insulting form after a clinical altitude training block, and the Chamonix grapevine suggests his climbing watts are simply off the charts for a race of this magnitude.
Assaulting the Vallorcine Barrier
The key to this edition lies in the leg-breaker section connecting Argentière to Vallorcine. It’s not just a matter of lung capacity, but lactate management before facing the brutal ascent toward La Flégère. With a total elevation gain of 2,540 meters, the 42km has become the epicenter of the Golden Trail World Series, even eclipsing the media interest of the ultra-distances. The duel between Bonnet and Philemon Kiriago’s Kenyan armada promises a suicidal opening pace that could leave the peloton in tatters before the halfway mark.
Vertical Agony and Endurance Grinds
While the spotlight shines on the marathon, Friday kicks off with the Kilomètre Vertical. Here, poling technique and VO2 max are pushed to the limit over just 3.8 kilometers of pure wall. It’s the technical appetizer for skyrunning purists looking for total muscular collapse in under 40 minutes. Meanwhile, runners in the 90km du Mont-Blanc will face technical, exposed terrain that—with heat forecasts for the lower elevations—will turn the Emosson pass into a true ordeal of dehydration.
The 23km du Mont-Blanc and the nocturnal Duo Étoilé will serve as a barometer for the trail conditions, which, despite spring rains, offer fast and compact tracks. However, performance analysts have their eyes fixed on the Posettes climb. If Bonnet crests with a three-minute lead over the current record, we will enter uncharted territory for modern trail running. The wall of the final kilometers will decide if we are witnessing an all-time performance or if the French altitude will put every athlete back in their place.