Festival des Templiers 2026: The Favorites Set to Shine in Millau

The race that electrifies the crowds at the Festival des Templiers is, of course, the Grand Trail (80 km, 3,400 m elevation gain), which sets off into the darkness early on Sunday morning, bringing a 16-race weekend to its climax. For the 32nd edition, the Grand Trail start will take on a historical flavor, reviving a tradition from the event’s earliest days: two riders dressed as Templars will fire the starting gun, as they did before 2000. It will be a spectacular opening scene, bringing one of the Festival’s historic signatures back to life and giving the Grand Trail start an unmistakably epic feel.

Two months after the UTMB Mont-Blanc races, many of the sport’s leading names will be back on the starting line, looking to erase disappointment in Chamonix or build on a rich vein of form. The two French ultrarunning monuments remain closely intertwined.

© Guillaume Salem

The Grand Trail will assemble one of the strongest Elite fields in its history in 2026, with competition expected to be fierce.

On the women’s side, the organizers have unfortunately confirmed that New Zealander Caitlin Fielder (Adidas), the two-time defending champion, will not start. She finished fifth at the CCC 2026 and fourth at the Western Endurance Run 2026.

That boosts the prospects of Poland’s Martyna Mlynarczyk (Hoka), winner of the marathon-distance race at Trail Alsace by UTMB 2026 (47 km / 1,600 m elevation gain) and winner of the 2025 CCC. She has yet to race on the Aveyron terrain, however.

So too for Switzerland’s Judith Wyder (Hoka), the 2026 European trail champion and runner-up at the 2025 OCC, who will also be discovering the Causses.

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Also back is French runner Julie Roux (Salomon), the 2023 winner, returning to competition after giving birth last June. The timing mirrors 2023, when she was crowned champion just four months after the birth of her second child.

© Cyrille Quintard

The French contingent can also draw on the experience of Adeline Martin (Kiprun). Third last year after leading the race, she has since won the Marathon du Grand Raid Kiprun 3 vallées, then finished eighth at the CCC 2026.

© Cyrille Quintard

As for Audrey Tanguy (Hoka), she has made a thunderous return to the forefront this season, finishing second at the 90 km du Mont Blanc 2026 and taking the 2026 French long-trail title. She will be discovering the event for the first time.

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Among the men, with defending French champion Pierre Livache (Kiprun) absent, the race looks wide open. A host of French trail runners will be looking to make their mark: Benjamin Roubiol (Asics) will want to put his DNF at the CCC 2026 behind him. Sylvain Cachard (Hoka), winner of the Marathon des Causses 2025, steps up in distance this year after finishing fourth at the OCC 2026. Then there is Pierre Galbourdin (Brooks), 2026 French short-trail champion and recent winner of the 50K du Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB. Initially entered, Thomas Cardin (Kiprun), sidelined by long COVID, will not be able to defend his 2024 victory.

Belgian runner Raoul Raus (New Balance) is also on the start list. The Belgian prodigy made headlines with his runner-up finish at the 2025 Marathon du Mont Blanc, crossing the line with blood streaming down his face after a fall on the final descent of La Flégère. Two months later, he set a new course record at the Championnat du Canigo.

© Fabian Bodet / MBB

His 2026 season has been more difficult. After a strong start, with second place at l’ARC 25 by UTMB in January (41 km and 1,240 m elevation gain), he then endured a run of disappointments: a DNF at Zegama, 21st place at the Marathon du Mont Blanc and 133rd at Sierre-Zinal.

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© UTMB

© UTMB

The 2026 edition also marks the return of Italy’s Francesco Puppi (Hoka), runner-up to Britain’s Jonathan Albon (Adidas) in the 2023 Grand Trail des Templiers. Puppi arrives full of confidence after finishing second at the Western States 2026. He could be racing for the win under the watchful eye of his Hoka teammate, Jim Walmsley, who is in Millau and won here in 2022. Walmsley is keeping observers guessing, leaving his participation in the flagship race up in the air.

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Among the possible outsiders is Britain’s Luke Grenfell-Shaw (Brooks), fourth at the CCC 2026.

The Endurance Trail (100 km and 4,309 m elevation gain) will open the action in the Causses on Friday, October 16 (see the schedule at the end of the article). Three plateaus, three valleys, medieval villages and singletrack: this 100K course, with €5,000 in prize money for the winners, is as demanding as it is spectacular. It is a plunge into the wild with just five aid stations, although more generous cutoffs have been introduced toward the end of the course.

© Cyrille Quintard

The 2026 Endurance Trail also gives runners access to the lottery for a place in the 2027 Western States Endurance Run. The only requirement is to finish in under 19 hours. Yannick Noël (Inov8), ninth at the UTMB 2026, will leave the trails of Réunion behind this year to chase a third win in the event, having already triumphed in 2023 and 2024.

© Cyrille Quintard

At 38, Sébastien Spehler (Altore), a two-time Grand Trail winner in 2017 and 2018, will continue his ultra-trail journey in the race. Third at the Ultravasan 2026 (90 km, 900 m elevation gain) in late August and winner of the Trail du Bout du Monde (57 km / 1,160 m elevation gain), he clearly has lost none of his speed. Whether that will be enough to last over this distance remains to be seen.

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Valentin Benard (Asics), third at the French long-trail championships in March, will be looking to bounce back from his DNF at the UTMB 2026 and could challenge for a podium spot.

In the women’s race, American Jessica Brazeau (Hoka), Jim Walmsley’s wife, will try to match her husband’s 2022 result, when he won the Grand Trail, after finishing sixth at the Wildstrubel 70 by UTMB (72 km and 4,600 m elevation gain). She will have French runner Marine Quintard (Rossignol) in her sights. A familiar face in the Causses, Quintard was fourth at the Grand Trail des Templiers in 2023 and ninth in 2024. She steps up in distance this year after finishing 21st at the CCC 2026 and fifth at the Trail Verbier Marathon 2026 (43 km / 3,000 m elevation gain).

With this 35 km, 1,578 m elevation-gain race, the organizers have, since the short trail’s beginnings, aimed to give runners the chance to test themselves over distances that usually receive less attention. The gamble has paid off, with a high-caliber field lining up for the 2026 edition. Everyone will have to handle a tricky, technical course that winds past towering cliffs above the valleys and through great conifer forests in the heart of the Causse Noir, cut through by ravines. The men’s and women’s winners will each take home €3,000.

On paper, Switzerland’s Roberto De Lorenzi (Brooks) has the highest UTMB ranking. He excels over shorter, less mountainous distances, but how will the Swiss champion fare on this terrain when race day arrives? He will have to keep an eye on Sweden’s Martin Nilsson, third in this race last year, as well as Spain’s Alex García Carrillo (Brooks), runner-up at the recent 50K du Nice Côte d’Azur by UTMB, with a marathon best of 2:12:10.

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French hopes will rest in part on Romain Discher (Asics), a mountain-running specialist who finished second at the ETC 2026 in Chamonix and recently won the demanding Trail des Aiguilles Rouges (52 km / 3,700 m elevation gain).

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Among the women, after withdrawing at the last minute from the OCC, everyone will be eager to see Swedish sensation Tove Alexandersson (Salomon) in action. She has been 100% this year, winning the Grand Raid du Ventoux by UTMB, the Zegama marathon and the 42 km race at the Marathon du Mont Blanc. The 2025 short-trail world champion will unquestionably be the woman to beat. France’s Cécile Jarousseau (Kiprun), 2025 and 2026 French short-trail champion and winner of the Marathon du Montcalm (40 km and 2,800 m elevation gain) on August 15, will try to stand up to the Swedish whirlwind, as will Italy’s Vivien Bonzi (Brooks), 13th at Sierre-Zinal 2026.

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