Tranchand leads the OCC from start to finish; Lauren Gregory wins by three seconds
The Frenchman won the 60 km from Orsières in 5:10:08; Gregory ran down long-time leader Naomi Lang in the last kilometre into Chamonix.
Photograph: Frédéric Tranchand racing Sierre-Zinal in 2022, by Johann Conus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsFrédéric Tranchand of France won the OCC on Thursday in 5:10:08, leading from the first climb to the finish in Chamonix. Lauren Gregory of the United States won the women's race in 6:08:07 by three seconds, one of the closest finishes the race has had.
The OCC is the UTMB World Series final for the 50 km distance, though this year's course measured 60 km with about 3,500 m of climbing. Almost 2,000 runners left Orsières at 8:15 am. A new section between the Col de Balme and the Col des Posettes added a high point of 2,321 m, and the old climb to La Flégère was dropped.
Tranchand, the short trail world champion of 2025, was at the front with Rémi Bonnet by Champex-Lac, 7 km in, and built an eight-minute lead through the middle of the race. Nashon Kiplimo of Kenya took time back on the final descent and was second in 5:14:37; Miguel Benítez of Spain was third in 5:17:43.
Naomi Lang of Britain led the women's race for most of the day, with Sara Alonso 24 seconds behind at the last check at La Joux. Gregory came past Alonso, then sat a few metres behind Lang into town and went by in the last kilometre. Lang finished three seconds down, Alonso third just over a minute later. The winners each took 13,000 euros.
Six hours of racing decided in the last 800 metres of a street. That is not luck; it is the only part of the race you can see.
Sources: iRunFar; Live for the Outdoors.
