Race report: 2011 TOR des GEANTS®: 330 km/24,000m ascent - September 11-18, 2011. Courmayeur, ITALY
The Tor des Géants® is one of the most demanding endurance trails in the world in terms of the steepness of its slopes and the length of the trail in the heart of the Italian Alps and which covers the whole of Valle d'Aosta in one stage.
Everything began on 11th September at 10am. There were 473 competitors at the start. As soon as the race started, a group including the favourites broke away and took the lead, establishing an unremitting and constant rythym for the competition.
Among the leaders there was the French runner Christophe Le Saux and the Spaniard Salvador Calvo Redondo (who came second in 2010 - Salomon team) followed by the Italians Ulrich Gross and Dennis Brunod a few minutes behind. Another group including Cesare Clap, Grégoire Millet, Alexandre Forestieri, Jules Henri Gabioud and Marco Gazzola attempted to stay on the heels of the leaders.
At the 64 km mark, the first runners to withdraw set the pace of the race. Ulrich Gross and Dennis Brunod withdrew, leaving the Spaniard Salvador Calvo Redondo, Christophe Le Saux et Grégoire Millet in the lead for the first night and second day. By the end of the second day, it was clear that this 2nd edition would break all previous records!
Monday and Tuesday nights were full of surprises in spite of the large improvement in weather conditions compared to Sunday night.
French runner Christophe Le Saux seized his position as leader early on Monday evening at the village of Niel.
Salvador Calvo Redondo from Spain, after having been in pole position since the beginning of the race, withdrew just before reaching the life base in Alpenzu (207 km.) at 9.33am on Tuesday morning, suffering from meniscus pain in his knee. Le Saux takes the lead, followed by Swiss runners Marco Gazzola et Jules-Henri Gabioud.
Fatigue starts to play tricks on the body. Grégoire Millet from France, who had been in third place for a long time, falls victim to a knee tendinitis and slips down the ranking.
The head trio widens the gap to establish a 4-hour lead on the others.
Throughout all of Tuesday, Christophe Le Saux leads the pace. His small strides and his relaxed apearance reveal little sign of tiredness. Nevertheless, Marco Gazzola catches up little by little. While there is just an hour's difference between them at sunrise, the transit at Valtournenche (236 km) is 'strained'. Christophe is the first at 1.53 p.m., Marco only 8 minutes behind. Christophe takes 5 minutes to refuel, Marco 8.
Young Jules-Henri Gabioud arrives at 4.02pm and rests for 50 minutes.
20 km further on, at Cuney (256 km), the race takes a new turning: Gazzola goes to the front overtaking Le Saux by 8 minutes. He will not give up his leading position now. Le Saux, overcome by deep fatigue, falls asleep in the forest and is woken up 3 hours later by some volunteers of the race who were concerned because they hadn't seen him arrive at the Ollomont life base (283 km).
Marco crosses the finish line at 12.58 p.m. after 74 hours and 58 minutes of running. That's 5 hours 30 minutes less than last year's edition when Ulrich Gross completed the trail in 80 hours 27mins. He commented in front of spectators and journalists: "The warm hospitality at the checkpoints, in the refuges and from all the volunteers along the trail provided me with a strong motivation to go on. This race is one of the hardest I've ever done. There was never time to rest my body so my knees, legs and feet hurt a lot. The final part of the race was really trying as I had decided not to sleep and to race against Christophe, who was always either just in front or a bit behind. He has more technique on the downhill slopes whereas I pass him uphill! The duel was tough until last night. It's a great victory for me!"
Photos: Marco Gazzola - first across the finish line but later disqualified!
There was another twist to this story though! Marco's last control point was timed at 12.06 p.m. at the Bonatti Refuge while the final compulsory crossing point of the race is at the Bertone Refuge. Marco was neither checked nor registered at this point. Marco's time from Bonatti to Courmayeur (11.9 km and 809 m of vertical difference) was 52 minutes, which seems highly improbabile. For the above reasons, the race committee has decided to disqualify Marco Gazzola from the competition. The runner commented "feeling both euphoric and exhausted for the great effort made up until that moment, I committed the mistake of taking the wrong trail. I am the first to regret it. However, I agree totally with the decision made by the committee."
So, on Wednesday 14th in Courmayeur at 5.58pm, Jules-Henri Gabioud was cheered by the crowds and awarded the winner's crown. After 79 hours and 58 minutes of competing and the disqualification of Marco Gazzola, the young Swiss runner commented at the finish line: "I have been thinking about this race since Christophe Le Saux mentioned it to me during the Grand Raid de la Réunion and I've trained very hard for it. I never aimed for victory, just the satisfaction of completing the trail. In my opinion, that's the principle, running for pleasure in a magnificent area like the Valle d'Aosta and crossing the finish line. The ranking isn't so important. The greatest emotion I experienced during this race was when I crossed the Malatra Pass. You're near the end and the landscape blows your mind." Having run a steady race, managing rest time and pit-stops very well, he didn't show signs of fatigue in spite of three days and three nights of running.
Photos: Jules-Henri Gabioud is cheered by the crowds and awarded the winner's crown
Christophe Le Saux, who had maintained his lead for a long time, came second at 10.09 p.m., after 84 hours and 9 minutes of competing. Victim to exhaustion on the last night, victory escaped him. Slowed down by fatigue in the final kilometres of the race, with a haggard look, he declared: "It's a really hard race, with splendid landscapes and continuous, warm and welcoming reception. I've taken part in many long and hard races all over the world and for me this is the most difficult of all.....but also one of the most beautiful!"
Over a long distance, there are many unexpected twists. The coveted third place confirms an edition full of surprises. Everyone was waiting for the runner from Chamonix, Stéphane Couleaud who, less than 11,9 km from the finish at the Bonatti refuge, suffered hypothermia. Pablo Criado Toca (ESP) in 4th place at that moment and fire-fighter by profession gave him first aid. "I wanted to stay with Stéphane until the rescue sqad arrived, but it was really cold with icy winds. My clothes were wet, I was geeting cold, help was coming, so I decided to set off again." Pablo arrived third on Thursday morning at 3.43am.
Photos: First woman (and 4th overall!) Anne Marie Gross. Second placed Christophe Le Saux
Anne Marie Gross, who had remained well in front of her pursuers throughout the race - 11 hours ahead at the Bosses check point - managed to maintain the lead perfectly. Despite stomach problems at Gressoney, she was able to remain within the first ten places for the whole length of the trail, finishing in 4th place in the overall rankings.
Arriving at sunrise on Thursday morning, Anne-Marie has added a second victory in the Tor des Géants® race to her many achievements, taking just 10 minutes longer than in 2010.
At the Cuney refuge (256 km), stomach pain stopped her race for 3 hours 30 mins. She set off again at 12.24 p.m. 10th in the overall ranking.
The second edition of the TOR des GEANTS® concluded with an extremely festive closing ceremony, full of emotions and cheerfulness. Accompanied by the applause of the winners, all the finishers, one by one, climbed the steps of the Jardin de l'Ange at Courmayeur before a large and enthusiastic audience. Thus, the feat of the winners is as exceptional as that of all those other 300 runners who crossed the finish line of Tor des Géants® in less than 150 hours !
"There's no need to go as far as the Himalayas or Tibet to find 'real' mountains. This race, which winds through the whole Valle d'Aosta, under the 5 giants of the Alps, (Mont-Blanc - 4,810 m, the Rutor - 3,486 m, Grand-Paradis - 4,061 m, Mont-Rose - 4,634 m, the Matterhorn - 4,478 m) demonstrates all the beauty of its landscapes and above all the values which are conveyed by its inhabitants: genuineness, friendship, courage and solidarity." With these words, committee chairman Aurelio Marguerettaz opened the prize-giving ceremony which concluded the second edition of Tor des Géants® this morning, Sunday 18th September at 11 a.m..
Gianni Savoia was the last runner to cross the finishing line, after having competed for150 hours, which means 6 nights and 7 days, to cover 330 km, 24 000metres of vertical difference including 25 passes surpasssing 2000m in altitude! Greeted by the two winners, Anne Marie Gross and Jules Henry Gabioud, the 51-year-old Gianni was very moved! " For the whole week, I've dreamt of this moment, the finish ... I didn't think I'd make it and now I'm ecstatic! An endurance trail is one of those rare sports where one can cross the finish line experiencing the same satisfaction and getting the same reception as the winners! We amateurs are able to share the same exertion, doubts and emotions as the great professionals! And we're treated like champions!"
The French win the Trophy of Nations, causing the marseillaise to be played at the foot of Mont Blanc, on the Italian side !
The race director, Alessandra Nicoletti, draws an emotional conclusion: "This has been an exceptional edition, from the very first registrations last January until today. Similarly, the weather has been fantastic with the only rain occurring on the first night and yesterday, 4 hours before the last runners arrived! My sincere gratitude goes to all the runners, both finishers and non-finishers, to all the volunteers, to the organization and to the 120 000 Valdotains who applauded and helped those competitors in their villages, along their streets and in their refuges to compete in this extraordinary race. We have an appointment for the third edition!"
Tor des Géants® 2011 statistics:
Men's results
| 1 |
Jules Henry Gabioud |
SWITERLAND |
79:58':26" |
| 2 |
Christophe Le Saux |
FRANCE |
84:09':46" |
| 3 |
Pablo Criado Toca |
SPAIN |
89:43':07" |
| 4 |
Eric Arveux |
FRANCE |
92:55':46" |
| 5 |
Giancarlo Annovazzi |
ITALY |
93:57':40" |
Women's results
| 1 |
Anne Marie Gross |
ITALY |
91:28':21" |
| 2 |
Patrizia Pensa |
ITALY |
102:25':42" |
| 3 |
Giuliana Arrigoni |
ITALY |
102: 26':05" |
| 4 |
Marie Chaleyssin |
ITALY |
114:03':24" |
| 5 |
Virginie Duterme |
ITALY |
116:49':36" |
TROPHY OF NATIONS: France 273:33':36" (Christophe Le Saux + Eric Arveux + Laurent Tissot)
All results on: www.tordesgeants.it
Facebook: www.facebook.com
Twitter: twitter.com/@TDG_trail
Photos: www.flickr.com/people/tor_des_geants/
The official Tor des Géants 2011 video: www.youtube.com/user/tordegeants
