This is a preview of the race – click here to read about fantastic wins for Caleb Olson and Henriette Albon.
There may be no Courtney Dauwalter this year but a star-studded cast is lining up for the showpiece Classic race at The North Face Transgrancanaria this weekend.
It’s the third 2025 race in the World Trail Majors, following on from the Hong Kong 100 and Black Canyon Ultras.
The 126km main event welcomes back four-time winner Pau Capell who faces the likes of Jon Albon and last year’s runner-up Miguel Heras in the men’s race.
And Albon’s wife Henriette is one of the favourites to follow in Dauwalter’s footsteps in the women’s race. Read on to find out more including a video embed that means you can watch the whole race without leaving this page.
Start time and how to follow
The action gets under way at 2359 local time on Friday (1859 Eastern and Saturday 0059CET).
Live tracking for all races is here.
There are two live race videos below – the first from the start, with the second kicking in early on Saturday morning.
Route
The Classic covers 126km, with 6,866m climbing, and like all this week’s races it finishes in the south of the island at Parc sur Maspalomas.
It heads there from the north east tip, having started at Las Canteras beach, with the spectacle of a thousand runners setting off from the heart of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The Classic takes in checkpoints at Tenoya, Arucas, Teror and Moya before joining up with the Advanced route which covers 84km. That begins at Agaete on the north west coast and its first checkpoint at El Hornillo is the Classic’s fifth. Each then have five more before the finish line beckons.
Both feature an incredible network of paths and trails which in the past acted as livestock routes which connected the whole island.
Who’s racing?
The full elite start list for the 126km Classic is here.
On the women’s side debutant Yngvild Kaspersen will be one of the favourites. The Norwegian, winner of UTMB’s CCC race and Zegama-Aizkorri, has an ITRA ranking of 822, the highest among runners in the main event.
Her compatriot, Henriette Albon, winner of Festival des Templiers and Ultra-Trail Snowdonia by UTMB, should also be in the reckoning.
As should Spain’s Claudia Tremps, who has finished on the podium four times, including a runner-up spot to Dauwalter last year.
And the amazing Claire Bannwarth of France is also scheduled to take part.
In the men’s event, Pau Capell, Jon Albon, Tom Evans and Miguel Heras were the names that leapt out.
However on Thursday afternoon, Evans posted on his Instagram page: Sadly no @transgrancanaria for me this weekend ⛰️
“I picked up a little niggle in training that I have not managed to fully shift yet. It’s going to be a very long year with some big goals and it’s too much of a risk! Good luck to everyone racing, I will be back soon.”
However it’s still a fantastic line up. Catalan star Capell, like Albon, runs for race sponsors The North Face and won this four years on the trot from 2017 onwards.
Norwegian-based Briton Albon is the world trail champion with an ITRA ranking of a massive 931 and is making his debut in the Gran Canaria event.
Meanwhile Spanish trail legend Heras was champion here back in 2010 and put up a fantastic display when second 12 months ago.
Previous winners
Last 10 winners of the Classic – 126km
2015 – Núria Picas / Gediminas Grinius
2016 – Caroline Chaverot / Didrik Hermansen
2017 – Azara García de los Salmones / Pau Capell
2018 – Magdelena Laczak / Pau Capell
2019 – Magdelena Laczak / Pau Capell
2020 – Katylyn Gerbin / Pablo Villa & Pau Capell
2021 – Azara García de los Salmones / Aurelien Dunand-Pallaz
2022 – Ragna Debats / Pablo Villa
2023 – Courtney Dauwalter / Andreu Simon
