After an epic duel lasting nearly 22 hours 30 minutes on the steep trails of Mercantour down to the Promenade des Anglais, Clément Desille triumphed in the flagship event (100 M) of the Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB 2026. He beat his breakaway companion Mathieu Delomier by just a handful of seconds, securing with Laurent Mendez a magnificent all-French podium.
Maintained despite the withdrawal of subsidies by the municipality, the men’s race Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB 2026 ended well this Saturday with notably the flagship stage, the 100 Miles.
It took pushing to the limit and testing the body to its absolute maximum to conquer this 165-kilometre course, which was even more challenging and technical this year than in previous editions.
Starting very fast, Clément Desille and Mathieu Delomier quickly opened a gap on the competition. For nearly 22 hours and 30 minutes, the two men held on without ever giving in.
A tense final
The day’s winner had come from a long way back, though. Injured two weeks before the start, Clément Desille had to suspend all training. A risky bet, but it paid off. « Honestly, I didn’t imagine it like this at all. We held on for almost 22h30. Frankly, it could have gone either way. It was a magnificent day », he said at the finish.
In the final three kilometres, the camaraderie that had prevailed throughout the course gave way to an intense sporting battle, giving victory to the runner from Annecy. Despite an acceleration from his compatriot, Mathieu Delomier fought to exhaustion to cross the line only one minute and one second later, 22h28’01.
« I was really hurting, I had to fight. I really thought I was prepared to win, but I came up against a very strong competitor. The emotions are incredible, experiencing this with another person is exceptional », the runner-up said at the finish line.
In third place, the Upper Savoyard Laurent Mendez delivers an equally remarkable performance, closing this all-French podium in 23h45’54. Coming from Annecy like today’s winner, with no certainty about his final time, he breaks the symbolic 24-hour barrier he had set himself.
Marked but pleased, he stressed the difficulty of the event. « It was magnificent, hyper technical, but it was especially really hard. The distance is incredible, the difficulty too, and the level was just exceptional. The estimate was around 24 hours, so arriving in this ballpark is a nice satisfaction. »
Seven French runners in the top 10
Beyond this blue-white-red podium, the rest of the standings confirms clear French dominance in this Alpine-Maritime edition, with a top 10 made up of 70% French runners.
Behind the leading trio, international competition rallied around Norwegian Petter Orheim, who secured a solid 4th place in 24h22’33, followed half an hour later by Belgian Dylan Dame, 5th in 24h55’38. A second Belgian, Antoine Brabant, rounds out this international top 10 in 10th position.
But throughout the night and along the rocky passes of Mercantour, it was indeed a French pack that set the pace of the chase. Martin Francou delivers a particularly consistent race to secure 6th place in 25h05’12. He is closely followed by Corentin Bui, who breaks through the 26-hour barrier with an excellent 7th place (25h59’09).
A few minutes later, Jérémie Bouchard crosses the finish line on the Promenade des Anglais to take 8th place in 26h05’35, just under five minutes ahead of his compatriot Théo Pesek, 9th in 26h10’26 after a remarkable effort of perseverance. In total, seven French trail runners feature in the ten best performances on this mythical course, demonstrating a true collective showing.
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