Ben Dhiman wins UTMB in 18:16:29, the first man under 19 hours around Mont Blanc
After a two-hour storm delay, the American who lives in France led from 40 km and won by 31 minutes; Chassagne beat Olson by 46 seconds for second.
Photograph: Ben Dhiman, portrait, August 2026, by The Adventure Bakery, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsBen Dhiman won the UTMB on Saturday in 18:16:29, the fastest time anyone has run around Mont Blanc and the first under 19 hours. It is not a course record: the Pyramides Calcaires section on the Italian side was cut for weather, so the loop was about 173 km with 9,900 m of climbing instead of the full thing.
The start was pushed back two hours by a thunderstorm forecast, to 7:45 pm on Friday. Vincent Bouillard, the 2024 winner, led the early kilometres and faded on the climb to the Col du Bonhomme around 40 km, and later stopped. Dhiman took over there and was never caught. By the Grand Col Ferret, the high point, at 6:37 am he had more than 20 minutes on Baptiste Chassagne and Joachim Lopez. "There was a full moon over the mountains, it was magic," he said afterwards.
Chassagne of France was second in 18:47:38, holding off Caleb Olson of the United States, third in 18:48:24, by 46 seconds after nearly 19 hours. All three broke 19 hours and the whole top ten was under 20. Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley and defending champion Tom Evans had all withdrawn before the start.
Dhiman lives in France and is a father of three. He dropped out of UTMB in 2023 and 2024 and was second last year, 33 minutes behind Evans. He had said before this one that he was here to win it.
Two DNFs, a second, then the fastest lap of the mountain ever run. The order matters.
Sources: iRunFar; Live for the Outdoors.
