There was a moment for the Golden Trail World Series history books on Sunday when the men’s and women’s winners crossed the line together at the Ledro Sky Trentino race, the second event in this year’s competition.
The scene of last year’s Grand Final, it was a 21.5km race with 1,777 metres of elevation gain and Kenya’s Caroline Kimutai marked herself out as one of the overall favourites as she secured her third win in the circuit – following the Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race and Sierre-Zinal in 2025.
And there at the finish at exactly the same time was Morocco’s Elhousine Elazzaoui, winner of the last two men’s overall titles as well as this season’s opener in Zegama-Aizkorri.
Women’s race
Kimutai pretty much led from start to finish, only briefly surrendering the lead in the closing meters of the sprint segment (1.08 km), located just 200 metres after the start along the shores of Lake Ledro. Joyce Njeru launched an early attack to chase the points awarded to the five fastest athletes in each segment (10, 8, 6, 4 and 2), but it was ultimately Madalina Florea who claimed the best time by the narrowest of margins – two tenths of a second – in 3:41.
As the long, steady climb toward Cima Pari began, Kimutai moved back into the lead and strengthened her advantage, also taking the uphill segment (11:24 over 1.1 km at a 19.43% gradient). Behind her, Nina Engelhard lived up to her vertical kilometre world champion status by leading the chase before the technical ridge between Cima Sclapa and Cima d’Oro, a narrow, undulating section of trail and rock. At Cima Pari, Kimutai held a three-minute lead over Engelhard and Florea, four and a half minutes over Njeru, and five over Ruth Mwihaki.
Florea, drawing on her course knowledge after winning the overall title here in 2025, clawed back time on the descent toward the finish. This section included the downhill segment (1.47 km at -27.8%), won by Andrea Kolbeinsdóttir in 6:32. By kilometre 15.8, Kimutai’s lead had been reduced to two minutes over Florea and three over Njeru. Mwihaki, meanwhile, had dropped more than four and a half minutes, with Lucija Krokc closing in on fifth place.
At the finish, Kimutai managed her advantage well, crossing the line two minutes ahead of Florea. Njeru followed six minutes back to complete the podium, while Engelhard and Kolbeinsdóttir rounded out the top five.
Men’s race
The sprint segment also set the tone for the men’s race around Lake Ledro, with Philemon Kiriago taking the win in 3:09. The Kenyan carried that momentum into the main climb, forming a leading trio alongside compatriots Michael Selelo Saoli and Paul Machoka. Just behind, Elazzaoui – who had briefly lost ground after the lake – responded quickly to rejoin the front group, soon followed by Isacco Costa.
The uphill segment created a second selection. Elazzaoui claimed it in 9:39, just one second faster than Kiriago, while Saoli conceded five seconds. Even so, all three reached Cima Pari together, where Saoli launched an attack to go clear solo. About a minute and a half later, a chasing group of four crested the summit: Samwel Kiprotich, Machoka, Patrick Kipngeno, and Costa, who had regained contact after losing ground on the climb.
With the ridge in sight, Elazzaoui and Kiriago managed to stay within reach of Saoli. The descent did little to break things apart: Kiriago was the fastest of the leading trio (6:16), although the quickest time overall once again went to Damian Bogdan in 5:26, repeating the downhill form shown in Zegama.
Everything remained open heading into the final loop around Pieve di Ledro. On the rolling terrain, Elazzaoui eventually dropped the Kenyan runners and still had time to wait for Kimutai after catching up in the closing meters. The Moroccan took the win in 1:55:48, with Kiriago second at +1:18 and Saoli third at +1:22.
“Winning in Ledro is something special for me, especially after racing Zegama last weekend,” Elazzaoui said at the finish. “Despite the fatigue, that race gave me confidence. All along the course, people were cheering ‘Vai Elhousine!’ It was an incredible and very fast race. I’m really happy to win here again – I had great memories from the 2025 final.”
What’s next?
With the first European block completed, the Golden Trail World Series will make a historic debut in Canada on 5 July with the Quebec Mega Trail (30 km and 1,450 metres of elevation gain).
