Yohan Viani has set a new record for the Grande Traversée du Mercantour in 46 hours and 10 minutes. An incredible journey of over 220 km and 13,000 meters of positive elevation gain through the Mercantour National Park.
For his first attempt at this distance, the 23-year-old trail runner from the French Riviera impressed by surpassing Stéphane Brogniart’s 2016 record of 47 hours and 31 minutes, on a course extended by more than 6 km since the start now takes place from Entraunes instead of Estenc.
According to Charles Ange Ginésy, President of the Alpes-Maritimes Department: “This feat rewards the talent but also the hard work of this exceptional athlete. His talent was already recognized as he finished in second place at the Ultra Trail Côte d’Azur Mercantour in 2019 and won the Tende trail in 2019. A big congratulations for this record that commands admiration from everyone.”
“With this new record, Yohan Viani has just written a new page in the history of the Grande Traversée du Mercantour, an iconic hiking route in the Southern Alps and Alpes-Maritimes that I initiated in 2016 with the Alpes-Maritimes Department and which is very dear to me. A course worthy of the richness of our heritage, our history, and the influence of this region that has fascinated Yohan since childhood,” adds Eric Ciotti.
