The week-long 2025 UTMB Mont Blanc festival is underway, and the TDS, commonly considered one of the more technical and rugged of the events, came away with some surprises on a landslide- and weather-modified course.
Unlike the OCC, CCC, and UTMB, TDS is not a UTMB World Series Finals. It was, however, one of the festival’s competitive kickoffs and had almost 2,000 runners take part. Careth Arnold became the first American to win the TDS, coming away with the women’s victory in 22:58:52, and Antoine Charvolin led a French sweep of the men’s podium with a time of 18:22:17.
Careth Arnold arrives to Chamonix as the 2025 TDS women’s champion. Photo: UTMB
When runners headed out just before midnight on Monday, August 25, specifically at 11:50 p.m. local time, on a 153-kilometer (95 miles) journey from Courmayeur, Italy, to Chamonix, France, with 9,000 meters of climbing (29,500 feet), the potential for deteriorating weather was on everyone’s mind.
Before the race start, this year’s course was originally rerouted near its finish line, between Les Houches, France, and Chamonix, because of landslides on the trail along the Arve River, and then just prior to the race start, the race organization rerouted off an exposed section between La Gittaz and Beaufort, France, 73 kilometers into the race, because of anticipated storms. The new route didn’t lose much distance but lowered the total elevation gain and made final race times significantly faster.
Read on for the full race details.
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2025 TDS Women’s Race
Ten miles in at Lac Combal, race favorites Careth Arnold (U.S.), Ida-Sophie Hegemann (Germany), and Manon Bohard Cailler (France) had already separated from the rest of the field. Arnold was nearly a minute ahead with 1:54 elapsed and the race’s first 4,000-foot climb done. Hegemann was in second, and Bohard Cailler was another 35 seconds back in third. Behind those front three, there was already a break, and it was six minutes back to fourth-place Hélène Dassy (Belgium) and everyone else.
The three favorites were all coming off successes earlier in the year. Only five weeks ago, Arnold was second at the High Lonesome 100 Mile in Colorado. Hegemann had won her last three ultras in a row, going back to the Grand Raid Ventoux 120k in April, and Bohard Cailler was second at July’s Hardrock 100.
UTMB, and its group of races, can be a matter of attrition, though.
Hélène Dassy looking pleased at finished second at the 2025 TDS. Photo: UTMB
Hegemann went to work on the next climb to Col Chavannes. Down a minute to the leader at mile 10, she arrived almost two minutes in front of Arnold, and now four minutes up on Bohard Cailler. Bohard Callier was the next to make a move in the quickly changing trio. Bohard Callier collected Hegemann and came into Col du Petit Saint Bernard, 22 miles into the race, as the co-leader.
Bohard Callier was still moving up through Bourg Saint-Maurice at mile 31 with 5:40 elapsed and was now five minutes up on Hegemann, but it wouldn’t last. Bohard Callier dropped a short while later, 41 miles and nine hours into the race.
Arnold vaulted back into the lead, but Hegemann was only minutes behind 45 miles into the race at La Gittaz. Then something went wrong for Hegemann as well, and she exited the race when still positioned second and after 62 miles of running at Hauteluce.
Of the three pre-race favorites and three early contenders, Arnold was the only one still in the race, and she was over an hour ahead of her next closest challenger with just over 20 miles to run. With two of the three early leaders out, Dassy’s consistency moved her up to second.
Careth Arnold never looked back and won in 22:58:52. She’s the first American to win this race.
Hélène Dassy finished in second at 24:23:23.
Xueer Shang (China), who had been in the middle of the top 10 for much of the race, made a pair of passes in the final third of the race to get third in 25:09. Shang was 13th at TDS in 2023.
Xueer Shang finishes third at the 2025 TDS. Photo: UTMB
2025 TDS Women’s Results
- Careth Arnold (U.S.) – 22:58:52
- Hélène Dassy (Belgium) – 24:23:23
- Xueer Shang (China) – 25:09:52
- Elise Delannoy (France) – 25:18:45
- Luisa Dematteis (Italy) – 25:26:45
- Emily Vaudan (Switzerland) – 25:40:35
- Magdalena Kraszpulska (Poland) – 26:19:18
- Julianne Dickerson (U.S.) – 27:26:07
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Karolina Wierzchowiak (Poland) – 27:43:28
- Yasmina Castro Chacón (Spain) – 28:43:16
2025 TDS Men’s Race
At Lac Combal, 10 miles into the race, the first 11 men were all within a minute of each other, with Beñat Marmissolle (France) at the very front of the early, dynamic group. Marmissolle was perhaps the race’s favorite. Earlier this year, he dropped from the Lavaredo Ultra Trail but recovered two weeks later to win the Trail Verbier St Bernard 141k. That was, however, an over 18-hour effort just six weeks ago. Marmissolle had 2019 UTMB winner Pau Capell (Spain), 2024 CCC 13th-placer Antoine Charvolin (France), and 2025 Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100 Mile winner Ethan Peters (Canada), and a bunch of others around him as the group ran through the night.
Antoine Charvolin outlasted the favorites to win the 2025 TDS. Photo: UTMB
At the Col du Petit Saint Bernard, 22 miles in, the pack had thinned, and Marmissolle and Charvolin were together at the front in 3:56, and Simen Wästlund (Sweden) and Antoine Thiriat (France) were almost two minutes back and together in third and fourth. Capell was back to seventh and five minutes off the lead. There was still, though, almost three hours until sunrise.
Thiriat took up the lead for the middle of the race, running in the pole position for miles 34 through 63, but he couldn’t hold that high-stakes spot. Just after that 100k mark and after nearly 20 miles of mostly downhill running, Charvolin gained the ultimate lead.
Antoine Charvolin, 13th at last year’s CCC, led for the race’s final 25 miles and won in 18:22.
Gautier Airiau (France) was out of the mix early, but shouldn’t have been overlooked. Airiau followed a similar strategy to 2024, greatly moving up in the race’s second half. Airiau got to third in 2024 and jumped from 21st at mile 10 to second at this year’s finish. Gautier Airiau reached Chamonix in second place, in 18:28.
Gautier Airiau on his way to finishing second at the 2025 TDS. Photo: UTMB
Leo Rogaume (France) mirrored Airiau in pacing. After a cautious start leaving Courmayeur, he moved into the top 10 after 22 miles and only reached the top five after halfway. Leo Rogaume ultimately finished third in 18:39.
After the first three, it was over an hour before the next man finished. French runners took the first four finish spots and eight of the top 10.
Marmissolle dropped from the race after 18 hours of running and 82 miles completed. Wästlund also did not finish.
The French sweep of the 2025 TDS men’s podium (left to right): 2. Gautier Airiau, 1. Antoine Charvolin, and 3. Leo Rogaume. Photo: UTMB
2025 TDS Men’s Results
- 1. Antoine Charvolin (France) – 18:22:17
- 2. Gautier Airiau (France) – 18:28:04
- 3. Leo Rogaume (France) – 18:39:21
- 4. Matis Leray (France) – 19:41:58
- 5. Daniel Claassen (South Africa)- 19:51:19
- 6. Pau Capell (Spain) – 20:02:15
- 7. Thibault Athane (France) – 20:13:47
- 7. Patrick Bringer (France) – 20:13:47
- 9. Pierre-Adrien Hivert (France) – 20:40:28
- 10. Martin Francou (France) – 21:02:31
