After a two-year wait since the last edition, it’s time for the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, happening Thursday through Sunday, September 25 through 28, in Canfranc, Spain!
Under the combined leadership of World Athletics, the World Mountain Running Association, the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), and the International Association of Ultrarunners, several races will take place, namely two World Mountain Running Championships — the Up and Down and the Uphill races — and two Trail World Championships (TWC) — the Short Trail and Long Trail races.
Thanks so much to The North Face for sponsoring iRunFar’s coverage of the 2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships!
This preview focuses on the Long Trail men’s race, which is 81 kilometers (50.3 miles) in length and takes place on Saturday, September 27, starting at 7 a.m. CEST, which is Friday, September 26, at 11 p.m. MDT.
The 2023 Trail World Championships Long Trail men’s individual podium (left to right): 2. Andreas Reiterer, 1. Benjamin Roubiol, 3. Peter Fraňo. All three runners return in 2025. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
The event takes place in the Spanish Pyrenees, which are known for both their steepness and technicality, and this course will deliver on both of these features in spades. Making a big loop in the mountains surrounding the mountain village of Canfranc, the route is purported to have 5,078 meters (16,660 feet) of climb. The course tops out at 2,572 meters (8,438 feet) on the summit of La Moleta, contains one climb of roughly 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) to get up to that summit, and has what looks to be five more meaningful climbs. This is a unique course for this event, so we’re unsure exactly how long it’ll take, but an 8.5-hour race for the lead men and a 10-hour race for the top women seems a reasonable estimate.
As you have probably guessed, we’ll cover the race live, both liveblogging here on the website and across our social media. We’ll also provide coverage of the other races all weekend. Tune in!
What follows is a look at some of the men we’re most likely to see atop the individual podium, top teams, as well as more men to watch. You’ll also want to check out the full entrants’ lists for all the races.
As of this article’s writing, 195 runners from 56 countries are entered in the men’s race. All the runners qualified nationally ahead of appearing here.
Be sure to also see our 2025 Trail World Championships Long Trail women’s preview.
France’s Benjamin Roubiol during the 2023 TWC Long Trail. He would go on to win the race. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Favorites for the Individual Win
Benjamin Roubiol – France
Benjamin Roubiol is the reigning champion of the TWC Long Trail. At the 2023 race, he shadowed those leading early before pushing to a commanding win late. Roubiol’s running resume is fascinating, as he seems to perform best at national and international championships, and less well at commercial trail races. A couple of cases in point, he won the 2025 and 2024 French Long Trail National Championships, and took second in 2023. He was also second at the 2024 European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships. Given the French athletics federation’s longstanding commitment to successful teams at the TWC, we’ll assume Roubiol is more than ready to defend his title.
Benjamin Roubiol, 2023 TWC Long Trail winner. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Andreas Reiterer – Italy
Andreas Reiterer has been consistently high performing at the prior two editions of the TWC Long Trail, having taking second in 2023 and third in 2022. He’s raced a lot already in 2025, most recently in taking 11th at the CCC, what will be four weeks before this race. Also this year, he was third at the Lavaredo Ultra Trail behind Raul Butaci in second, who he’ll see at this race, and second at Transvulcania, behind Peter Fraňo, who he’ll face again here. Unless he’s not fresh enough after CCC, Reiterer should contend again.
Andreas Reiterer of Italy during the 2023 TWC Long Trail. He took second place. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Jim Walmsley – U.S.
Can you think of the last time Jim Walmsley wasn’t one of, if not the, favorite of whatever race he shows up to? Sure, he’s been on and off over the years, but his enormous resume keeps him in the forefront of our minds. This is Walmsley’s first Team USA showing at the TWC, but that’s not from a lack of trying — he was a late scratch before the 2023 event due to injury. Just a few weeks ago, he tuned up by winning the OCC, and the race went almost to the line in a duel with Cristian Minoggio, who is also in this race. Earlier this year, Walmsley DNSed the Western States 100 while recovering from a knee injury, but going backward a bit, he won the 2024 Western States 100, as well as the 2023 UTMB. With a career full of accolades, he’s likely keen to add a TWC feather to his hat.
Jim Walmsley on his way to winning the 2024 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Francesco Puppi – Italy
After years of racing shorter trail races, it seems like Francesco Puppi is now finding his footing in the longer trail ultras. Just four weeks before this race, Puppi won the CCC. Going backward in time, he also took 10th at the 2025 Sierre-Zinal, won the 2025 Canyons 100k, was second at both the 2024 and 2023 OCC, and was second at the 2023 Les Templiers 80k. Like his competitor Andreas Reiterer, as long as he’s recovered from the CCC, he’ll be in the podium mix.
Francesco Puppi on his way to winning the 2025 CCC. Photo: UTMB
Peter Fraňo – Slovakia
Peter Fraňo has represented his country three times at the TWC, taking third at the Long Trail’s last edition, eighth at the 2022 Long Trail, and being off the mark in 2019. Another race he keeps coming back to is the CCC, where he finished second in 2024, seventh in 2023, and fifth in 2022. Earlier this year, he squeaked inside the top 10 at the Western States 100, taking ninth. And before that, he ran away with the win at the 2025 Transvulcania, ahead of second-place Andreas Reiterer and third-place Manuel Anguita, both of whom he’ll race here. This year’s Transvulcania featured a big storm, and it’ll be a long time before we forget the memory of Fraňo running through it unfettered in a singlet, as runners of all kinds dropped from the race.
Peter Fraňo finishing the 2023 TWC Long Trail in third position. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Zach Miller – U.S.
Zach Miller returns to this event after taking sixth at the last edition in 2023. In that race, he was in the frontrunners mix for most of the day before fading a bit as the distance and vert stacked up late. His other turnouts at the TWC were in 2022 for the Short Trail, where he finished a bit further off the mark, and in 2018, where he took eighth. Earlier this summer, he was fifth at the Hardrock 100, and his top finishes from the prior years would have to be his second and fifth places at the 2023 and 2022 UTMB, respectively.
Zach Miller during the 2025 Hardrock 100. Photo: iRunFar/Eszter Horanyi
Caleb Olson – U.S.
Caleb Olson is best recognized at the moment for winning the 2025 Western States 100 — and should we add, in that incredible shirt?! But Olson’s run that day is just the latest in a career that’s been on its ascent for several years. Earlier in 2025, he won Transgrancanaria. In 2024 and 2022, respectively, he took 12th and 13th at the CCC. And last year, he was second at Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k. Olson was on Team USA for the 2023 TWC Long Trail, where he finished off the mark. Signs are pointing toward a much faster finish for Olson this time around.
Caleb Olson winning the 2025 Western States 100. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
More Top Contenders
Adam Peterman – U.S.
Adam Peterman made winning the 2022 TWC Long Trail look easy. That was during his incredible, ahem, run of things, where in 2022, he was undefeated across all kinds of races, surfaces, and ultra distances. In the year or so that followed, however, he had a serious injury and laborious recovery. Now, in the year or so leading up to this race, he’s been finding his footing again, with performances like taking sixth just four weeks ago at OCC, where he raced with some folks he’ll see here, too; winning the 2025 Gorge Waterfalls 100k to qualify for Team USA ahead of second place Tyler Green who is also racing here; and taking third at the 2024 CCC. It’s hard to say exactly where Peterman will land in this race, but chances are good he’s right in the mix.
Adam Peterman hoists the American flag and becomes the 2022 TWC Long Trail Champion. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Vincent Bouillard – France
While Vincent Bouillard shocked the world when he won the 2024 UTMB, it seems he was on a steep upward trajectory toward that point. Ahead of that win, he also won the 2024 Kodiak 100 Mile and 2024 Gorge Waterfalls 100k. This spring, he took third at the 2025 Chianti Ultra Trail 122k, after a late race duel with second-place Kilian Jornet and behind winner and good friend Jim Walmsley, the latter of whom is also racing here. He did have a blip in his results where he didn’t finish the 2025 Western States 100 earlier this summer, however.
Vincent Bouillard after winning the 2024 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Baptiste Chassagne – France
Baptiste Chassagne is probably best globally known for finishing second at the 2024 UTMB, though he’s been competing well at the national level in France for quite some time. His first turnout on Team France was for the 2023 TWC Long Trail, where he took 17th, probably well below his potential here. He has twice won the French Long Trail National Championships, this year and in 2023, both times where he qualified for Team France. He’s also had a second stellar result at UTMB, finishing 10th in 2023.
Baptiste Chassagne was pretty stoked to take second at the 2024 UTMB. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Petter Engdahl – Sweden
If there’s one thing that’s for sure about Petter Engdahl’s racing career, it’s that he’s succeeded over many different distances and terrains — longer, shorter, flatter, mountainous. As examples, he just finished fourth at the 2025 OCC four weeks before this race, took third at the 2024 Canyons 100k, was third at the 2023 Marathon du Mont-Blanc, and won the 2022 CCC. He’s represented Sweden at the TWC once before, at the 2023 Short Trail, where he took 13th. His potential is for sure inside the top 10.
Petter Engdahl, 2022 CCC men’s champion. Photo: UTMB
Ramon Manetsch – Switzerland
Ramon Manetsch is one of the six returning top-10 finishers of the last edition, having raced smart, moved up in the field late, and finished in eighth place. At the 2022 edition, he took 12th. Given that forward trajectory, it’ll be interesting to see how he does at his third world champs. In the last couple of years, Manetsch’s top finishes have included fifth places this year at both Transvulcania and the Mont Blanc 90k, and seventh place at the 2024 CCC.
Switzerland’s Ramon Manetsch taking eighth at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Tomáš Farník – Czech Republic
While we didn’t know of Tomáš Farník before the 2023 TWC Long Trail, we really enjoyed watching his all-race consistency — where he ran inside the top 10 for most of the race before finishing ninth. He’s got something like nine years of trail running results now, and it looks like that world champs performance was a career highlight thus far. His other top finish of the last couple years was 15th at the 2024 European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships.
Tomáš Farník of the Czech Republic finishes in ninth at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
José Fernández – Spain
José Fernández reads as a bit of a wild card. This will be his third appearance at the TWC Long Trail for Team Spain, where he DNFed in 2023 and took fourth in 2022. That seems par for the course in the rest of his running career; either he stops early or sticks the landing. He’s a three-time champion of the roughly 60k Penyagolosa MiM. Let’s see how he does this year.
José Fernández taking fourth at the 2022 Trail World Championships Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Joaquín López – Ecuador
Joaquín López represented his country for the first time in taking 22nd at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. He’s evolved quite a bit as a runner since then, however, taking 11th at UTMB that same year before moving up to take third at the 2024 UTMB. His other top races of the last few years have been a win at the 2025 Mt. Fuji 100 Mile and third place at the 2024 Andorra 100k.
Joaquín López representing Ecuador at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Expected Top Teams
In addition to the race for individual podiums, the Trail World Championships features a team race. Up to six runners can race on behalf of a country, and the top three finishers score for the team. Those three runners’ times are added up, and the team with the fastest cumulative time wins.
In the 2023 edition, Team France won for the men, though second-place Team USA gave France a run for its money. Italy was the third men’s team. All three of these teams are looking the strongest again this year, with Team Romania looking like the potential challenger.
Team France
- Benjamin Roubiol
- Vincent Bouillard
- Baptiste Chassagne
- Louison Coiffet
- Robin Juillaguet
- Mathieu Delpeuch
With Roubiol, Bouillard, and Chassagne leading Team France as the potential top scorers, this is already looking like a winning team. They are all profiled earlier in this preview.
Of the remaining three, Coiffet has the highest ITRA score of 921, and he took second at the 2025 French Long Trail National Championships — the qualifier race for this team — behind Roubiol and ahead of Chassagne. Juillaguet, with his 873 ITRA score, looks dependable too, in taking fourth at the national champs qualifier. Delpeuch earned his spot on the team by taking fifth at the qualifier race.
Interestingly, it looks like only two of these six runners, Roubiol and Chassagne, have run on Team France for the TWC before.
The men’s team podium at the 2019 TWC featuring Great Britain (2nd), France (1st), and Spain (3rd). Team France should compete for the team podium again in 2025. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Team USA
- Jim Walmsley
- Zach Miller
- Caleb Olson
- Adam Peterman
- Tyler Green
- Tracen Knopp
Walmsley, Miller, Olson, and Peterman, all profiled above, are four excellent parts of Team USA.
Backing them are Tyler Green, who was most recently ninth at the 2025 Lavaredo Ultra Trail, and also has a 2023 Western States 100 second-place finish to his name. Knopp has several years of national-level performances, and he qualified for Team USA by taking second at the 2025 Gorge Waterfalls 100k qualifier event, behind winner Peterman. Knopp also took second at this year’s weather-shortened Eiger Ultra Trail 100k.
Miller, Olson, and Peterman have run for Team USA at the TWC before, Walmsley was named to the 2023 team but didn’t race due to injury, and the other two will debut on the team.
Zach Miller (left) with USA teammates Drew Holmen (center) and Eric LiPuma (right) at the finish of the 2023 TWC Long Trail. This trio led the team to a silver team medal that year. Team USA, though largely made up of different members, should contend in 2025 as well. Photo: Peter Maksimow
Team Italy
- Andreas Reiterer
- Francesco Puppi
- Cristian Minoggio
- Riccardo Montani
- Gionata Cogliati
While Team Italy has the stars Reiterer and Puppi headlining it, the country has only registered five of its allowed six runners, which may or may not be seen as an issue.
With a 935 ITRA score, Minoggio is a great third team member who fans remember just dueled Jim Walmsley all the way to the line to take second at the 2025 OCC. He’s represented his nation at both the 2023 and 2022 TWC, both times in the Short Trail race, taking a respective 15th and 10th. He also took second at the 2025 Italian Short Trail National Championships, making it even more interesting that he’s moved over to racing the Long Trail race.
Montani took 20th at the 2022 TWC Long Trail, and Cogliati reads as a bit of a question mark, with almost exclusively trail and mountain racing experience in his home country. The two have 889 and 884 ITRA scores, respectively.
Cristian Minoggio of Italy finishes second at the 2025 OCC. He should help Team Italy compete for a team medal at the 2025 TWC Long Trail. Photo: UTMB
Team Romania
- Andrei Preda
- Raul Butaci
- Bogdan Damian
- Leonard Mitrica
- Valentin Toma
- Catalin Sorecau
For us, Team Romania is the upstart team to watch. It should be led by Andrei Preda, who took 12th and 19th at the 2023 and 2022 editions of the race, and Raul Butaci, who DNFed at this race in 2023 but took 13th at the 2022 edition. While it’s hard to get a read on Preda since 2023, as he races more low-key, regional events, Butaci’s had plenty of strong running. This includes a second place at the 2025 Lavaredo Ultra Trail and third at the 2025 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail.
Damian looks like an excellent third man on the team, having just finished top 15 at the 2025 OCC, and he’s been eighth at the 2022 TWC Short Trail and 19th at the 2019 TWC, which was competed on a 44k course.
Mitrica is also a solid teammate, having finished 11th at the 2022 TWC Short Trail. Going backward in time, he’s taken 12th, 10th, and 10th at the last three Zegama Marathons and gotten as high as 20th at Sierre-Zinal in 2024. That makes it four men on Team Romania with prior TWC experience.
Toma and Sorecau will be bit of question marks with their largely regional racing backgrounds.
Andrei Preda representing Romania at the 2023 TWC Long Trail. He is back on a strong team for 2025. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Still More Men to Watch in the Individual Race
Here are some other top men running the Trail World Championships Long Trail, with a focus on runners from around the world.
- Manuel Anguita (Spain) – 3rd 2025 Transvulcania; 8th 2024 UTMB; 5th 2024 Mont Blanc 90k
- Miguel Arsénio (Portugal) – 2nd 2025 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail; 2nd 2025 Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k; 2nd 2024 Les Templiers 80k; 30th 2022 TWC Long Trail
- Elliot Cardin (Canada) – 6th 2025, 8th 2023, 14th 2022, & 3rd 2020 Black Canyon 100k; 2nd 2024 Gorge Waterfalls 100k
- Alexander Hutter (Austria) – 20th 2023 TWC Long Trail
- Hiroki Kai (Japan) – 10th 2025 Western States 100
- Kamil Leśniak (Poland) – 14th 2025 & 2024 UTMB; 25th 2023 TWC Long Trail
- Gaby Rueda (Argentina) – 15th 2025 & 13th 2023 UTMB
- Nelson Santos (Portugal) – 4th 2024 Madeira Island Ultra-Trail; 16th 2023 TWC Long Trail
- Jack Scott (Great Britain) – 1st 2024 & 2nd 2023 Winter Spine Race; 5th 2023 Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100k
- Christian Stern (Austria) – 24th 2023 TWC Long Trail
- Andy Symonds (Great Britain) – 12th 2025 French Long Trail National Championships; 21st 2024 & 11th 2022 UTMB
Finish line celebrations for Manuel Anguita, third man at the 2025 Transvulcania Ultramarathon. Anguita will compete on Team Spain at the 2025 TWC Long Trail. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Call for Comments
- Which runners and teams do you think we’ll see on the podium of this year’s TWC Long Trail men’s race?
- Any teams or runners who you think might surprise the world and who aren’t included in this preview? Let us know who they are and share some of their results!
