Ben Dhiman breaks 19 hours to win UTMB in historic 18:16:29
American Ben Dhiman smashed trail running’s biggest ceiling at the 2026 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, winning in 18:16:29 — the first sub-19-hour finish in race history — after a rain-delayed start and a weather-shortened course around Mont Blanc.
Solo from the first third
After early pack racing through Les Contamines, Dhiman seized the lead near Notre-Dame de la Gorge (~36 km) and opened a seven-minute gap by Les Chapieux. By Courmayeur (~81 km) he was alone in 7:50 elapsed, calm enough to chat with crew before leaving in about two minutes. At Grand Col Ferret his lead was roughly 22 minutes; by Vallorcine it exceeded half an hour.
A sprint for second
Behind him, Olson climbed from eighth at Courmayeur to third, nearly catching Chassagne on the final Chamonix descent. Chassagne hung on by less than a minute. France’s Virgile Moriset ran from deep in the field to fourth in 19:00:23; Ecuador’s Joaquín López was fifth.
Notable absences shaped the race: defending champion Tom Evans, Jim Walmsley and Kilian Jornet all scratched. Dhiman’s answer was a near-perfect solo — the performance he had previewed wanting “one day,” delivered on a weather-bent Friday-to-Saturday in late August that the sport is still digesting as September racing resumes.