The return of Kilian Jornet to the Ultradistance in Chianti, Pura Tuscany Italian, ended in defeat with a consolation prize. In the two years that he has been left with long distances he has seen how his rivals have improved in the beautiful: since the demonstration of Jim Walmsley, winner with capital letters of a race with 122 kilometers and more than 5,500 meters of positive slope, to the confirmation of Valentin Bouillard, the engineer who surprised his own and strangers winning last year in Chamonix and from which he could not separate until the last year stroke. The second place meets the objective of the Spanish corridor, that is, to obtain one of the two tickets for Western State, the UU fetish, which will assault in June before its executioner today. And he did so in the circumstances, with physical problems, and his recent fatherhood, which he questioned his participation until this week.
That the last three winners of UTMB coincide in a race is a rarity, since the physical cost of such distances limits the calendar to a few dorsal a year. This is how a career of just a five years of history has told in this unpublished tour of vineyards and centenary castles with an unpublished impact. In the uncertain of an ultra, that exhibition for both physical and mental hours, the three applicants were one step above the rest, a demonstration of the step they occupy. And everyone came out happy.
but it was confirmed. His obsession with winning UTMB ended up migration to Chamonix to train in those mountains, with a slope much greater than American trails. In that aspect, Chianti’s data came to the hair, although Jornet recognized later that he was more technical than he expected. The three went hand in hand from the exit, at four in the morning, to almost the Ecuador. There he made his winning movement: he squeezed a quick drop, planting with six minutes in the provisioning of Cantalici (kilometer 58) to the persecuting duo, which waited for an explosion, an probable outcome years ago, but not now. He gave a “masterclass”, as the Catalan corridor himself recognized, and went down at ten hours: 9h59m48s. He had to wait almost half an hour in goal to take the photo of the podium.
Jornet explained in Meta the two circumstances for which he returns with the task done: in fact, he had a taxi in the finish line to return as soon as possible with his third child. Once the list of stars was confirmed, he questioned his presence explaining weeks ago that the priority would be to be with his family in the event that he had to choose between the birth of his third child and the race. His surroundings managed the news privacy, which only came to light in the middle of the week, with his wife already at home. He then decided to travel. But after the race he explained that he had slept an average of two hours a day to attend to his offspring. The second problem was physical, because he had to deal with knee problems. Even so, with the ticket for Western State in his pocket, he attacked Bouillard in the final stretch and finished second (10h207m27s). The Frenchman completed the podium at little half a minute. The next, his compatriot Aubin Ferrari, reached 1h16m from the winner.
After winning UTMB in 2022 and at the head of the palmarés of the test with four wins, Jornet has not returned to his fifth win, partly because he has expressed his criticisms of the circuit for understanding that he fosters a monopoly in the sport by extending tens of runs catwalk around the world, necessary to obtain the ticket and run in Chamonix. One of them is Chianti. So he completed his calendar in the last two years with personal challenges in Pyrenees and Alps: weeks of routes with a brutal slope conquering three thousands and four. However, he triumphed in his two trail incursions of 2024 in the two most sought-after medium-sought-distance races: his eleventh Zegama and his tenth Sierre-Zinal, with a record included. This Saturday he had to lose, yes, with comfort; Western State will be sand of another sack, there will be to win or die, the spirit that summarizes its literary biography. The three geniuses who shared one morning for Tuscan will see Walmsley at the end of June again.
