UTMB 2026: Why the TDS isn’t a race you can afford to overlook

The 2026 Trace des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) gets underway this Monday night at 11:50 pm from Courmayeur. Added to the UTMB Mont-Blanc program in 2009, it’s since earned a reputation as a no-nonsense race, widely seen as more technical, tougher, more committing and more “alpine” than UTMB’s headline event, even though it isn’t part of the UTMB World Series Finals. Here’s who could follow France’s Antoine Charvolin (On) and American Careth Arnold (Altra) onto the top step on this 145 km, 9,500 m D+ route.

The Trace des Ducs de Savoie owes its very existence to the runaway success of the UTMB Mont-Blanc event’s two original races, the UTMB and the CCC. In 2008, the 4,400 bibs available across those two events sold out in eight minutes flat.

With demand exploding, and with Bourg-Saint-Maurice also keen to “benefit” from the UTMB passing through, a new race was created to explore the Savoie side and the Beaufortain. A wilder line, with more self-sufficiency required. That’s how the TDS was born, and it’s been synonymous with authenticity and toughness ever since.

The TDS is like those supporting roles in movies: understated, but essential to making the film work. In the middle of UTMB Mont-Blanc’s crazy week, it doesn’t grab many headlines; scheduled early, its heroes are quickly forgotten. It’s so “rugged,” and so much less runnable than the UTMB, that plenty of people think twice before taking it on.

A course that’s raw and relentless

Starting from Courmayeur, the TDS serves up 145 km with 9,500 m of climbing. Right away, runners head up to the Mont Favre ridge, then push on toward Col Chavannes. Next comes Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, before a plunge of more than 15 km down into Bourg-Saint-Maurice. Make the most of the aid station there, because what follows is brutal: the climb to the Passeur de Pralognan (2,000 m D+ in one shot), then the descent to the Cormet de Roselend. The downhill continues toward La Gittaz, before the course rises again to Pas d’Outray, an iconic spot with panoramic views of Pierra Menta and Grand Mont, legendary ski-mountaineering terrain, plus Hauteluce and its timeless hamlets. Once the “scenery break” is over, it’s back to work: a long drop to the valley floor and the village of Beaufort. Then come the climb to the Girotte dam, the descent to Les Contamines-Montjoie, the push up to Col du Tricot and Bellevue, and finally a leg-wrecking last descent via Les Houches and Chamonix, where the finish line awaits.

A springboard to the UTMB

That out-of-this-world vibe, like you’re skirting the edge of civilization, is a huge part of what makes the race different. The atmosphere and the views are unlike anything else during UTMB Mont-Blanc week, and they tend to draw the most mountain-minded athletes in the field.

Big names have broken through here, and some have used it as a launchpad before taking on the UTMB. Nepal’s Dawa Sherpa, France’s Xavier Thévenard, Michel Lanne, Ludovic Pommeret, Spain’s Pau Capell and Pablo Villa, Sweden’s Mimmi Kotka, France’s Audrey Tanguy, Nathalie Mauclair, Maryline Nakache, and the late Swiss runner Andrea Huser on the women’s side have all, at one point, etched their names into the TDS record book.

More recently, the UTMB organization has boosted the race’s appeal again: finishing the TDS now earns 4 Running Stones, those precious “points” for the lottery to get into the UTMB World Series Finals in Chamonix. Enough to make it a coveted finish once more.

Louison Coiffet for a first win?

For this 2026 edition, France’s Louison Coiffet (Team Salomon) looks like the man to beat after his power-and-control masterclass at the 90 km du Mont-Blanc in late June, where he won convincingly ahead of American Ben Dhiman (Team Asics Fuji Trail). Thirdrd at the Long Trail World Championships at the end of 2025, Coiffet is no stranger to rough, twisty terrain, as shown by his win at the 2024 Restonica Trail (111 km / 7,128 m D+) in Corsica, on brutally demanding ground. Spain’s Ruben Dieguez Quiroga (team Kailas Fuga) will be a hard customer, coming off a May win at Portugal’s 100-mile Oh meu deus (167 km / 8,900 m D+), as will American Tyler Green (team Nike ACG), thirdrd at the MIUT (111 km / 7,200 m D+) earlier this year.

Louison Coiffet at last year’s Canfranc World Championships.

A trio of French runners could also shake things up: Paul Creuzet (team Kailas Fuga) – 26th at UTMB 2025 and runner-up at the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB 2026 (105 km and 6,800 m D+); the experienced Rémy Brassac (Team Cimalp), 4th at Val d’Aran 2026 (110 km / 6,400 m D+) and winner of the 2025 Endurance Trail des Templiers; and Clovis Chaverot (team Inov8), who comes in off back-to-back wins at two alpine races in Switzerland: the X-Traversée in early July (77 km / 5,100 m D+), and the Swiss Canyon Trail (83 km / 3,500 m D+).

On the women’s side, Germany’s Ida Sophie Hegelmann (Team The North Face) will be looking for payback after a run of unfinished business in Chamonix: DNFs at the UTMB in 2023 and 2024, and another DNF on this very TDS last year. Still, she’s coming in with serious momentum, with a win a month since May: Grossglockner Ultra Trail (84 km / 5,000 m D+) in late July, Zugspitz Ultra Trail by UTMB (74 km / 3,000 m D+) in June, and the Grand Raid du Ventoux (87 km / 4,200 m D+) in May.

The French women won’t be far behind, starting with runner from the Vosges Sarah Vieuille (Team Kiprun), flying since late 2025 when she won the monstrous PicaPica in the Pyrenees (109 km / 11,500 m D+), finished 4th at the Diagonale des Fous on Réunion, then went a perfect 6-for-6 on wins through her 2026 season, including a Restonica Trail victory in July (69 km / 3,950 m D+). Northern French runner Elise Delannoy (team Inov8) will also be back on the Courmayeur start line on Monday night, defending her 3rd place from 2025.

Other outsiders include Italy’s Lisa Borzani, runner-up at the 2026 Cervino Matterhorn Ultra (70 km / 5,000 m D+), and Canada’s Stephanie Case (team The North Face), 5th at the Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB 2026.