Fellhofer dominates, Tschumi excels at Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB

There were contrasting winning method from the victors at the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB Ultra 105K races as Jean-Philippe Tschumi and Esther Fellhofer took top honours on Saturday.

Switzerland’s Tschumi faced a tussle from start to finish as he and Ben Dihman of the USA crossed the line hand in hand. By contrast, Austrian Fellhofer bested the field by over 90 minutes. Both runners claimed four UTMB Running Stones with their triumphs.

In the 50k race at the event, Christian Meier of Canada and Anya Tarasova of Spain claimed the top step of the podium. In the 21K race, Andorran athlete Ariadna Fenes was successful on home soil with Spain’s Andres Garcia Blanco taking the tape in the men’s race.

Fantastic Fellhofer in fine form

It was a sensational performance from Fellhofer who executed an almost perfect race. She paced her effort exceptionally as she advanced through the field, eventually finishing in 15th overall in a time of 17:13:03.

The Austrian adds this UTMB index success to wins at UTVV Slovenia Ultra Trail Vipava Valley 2023, Alpin Team Trailrun 2022 and KAT100 Endurance Trail 2022 in the last 18 months.

Her nearest challenge, Yuanyuan Wu of China (18:44:47), was a total of one hour, 31 minutes and 44 seconds further back. Wu has enjoyed a successful last 12 months with wins at BTR Ultra 2023, Tanaosri Trail 2022 and Adidas Terrez 2022 Chongli.

Hungarian Ildiko Wemescher (18:49:51), who won the 2022 iteration of the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB 105K, improved on her time of a year previous (19:18:11) but dropped down the podium to third.

Tschumi, Dihman excel

Tschumi took the men’s Ultra 105K. by the barest of margins as he and Dihman both crossed the line in a time of 13:36:38 – the Swiss athlete awarded the victory as they crossed the line hand in hand.

🇦🇩 Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB | The Results 🏆
Many congrats to you all 💪

🟥 #Ultra105K – 4 Running Stones 💎
🥇 Esther Fellhofer 🇦🇹 // Jean-Philippe Tschumi 🇨🇭
🥈 Yuanyuan Wu 🇨🇳 // Ben Dhiman 🇺🇸
🥉 Ildiko Wermescher 🇭🇺 // Pau Capell 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/B6ZdsKnid0
— UTMB® World Series (@UTMBWorldSeries) June 25, 2023

Tschumi built a lead to his advisory throughout the mid-part of the race. By the Andorra La Vella Placa del Poble checkpoint (38.2km) he led by seven minutes and 13 seconds, but Dihman then closed the gap, catching his front-running opponent by Incles (75.5km).

Tschumi adds the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB title to his Ultra-Trail Snowdonia success in May. In the last 12 months he has also enjoyed success at Trail des Dents du Midi 2020 – albeit over the shorter 20K category distance.

Spaniard Pau Capell was the third runner to take the tape in the men’s race. He finished 13 minutes and 12 seconds off the pace, but a considerable distance ahead of fourth-place.

Meier, Tarasova win 50k

Canadian Meier and Spaniard Tarasova took top honours in the 50K category race. Meier completed the course in a time of 5:42:25, three minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Oswaldo Luis Medina Gutiérrez (5:45:51). Marc Pinsach completed the podium a further five minutes and 12 seconds back.

Tarasova, like Fellhofer in the Ultra 105K race, was a class above as she took victory in a time of 6:25:25. Her nearest rival was Switzerland’s Kathrin Goetz (6:53:42) a total of 28 minutes and 17 seconds off the pace. Tarasova finished one hour, five minutes and 31 seconds of third place Lena Glasbrenner (7:30:56) of Germany.

In the 21k race, Garcia Blanco won the men’s race in a time of 2:20:53. He defeated Genis Porqueras Simo (2:24:07) and Juan Pablo Llanos Mora (2:26:26). In the women’s race the top three were Ariadna Fenes (2:50:35) Laura Orgué (2:59:14) and Mercedes Velasco (3:10:00).