Tom Evans has confirmed he will return to Chamonix to defend his UTMB title at the Hoka Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc on 28 August, the British army major formally reposting the start in a video shared by the race organisers and his sponsor Hoka in the closing days of April. The 33-year-old's 19:18:58 victory in 2025 made him the first Briton to win the men's race in the event's 22-year history; he heads back to the start line in 2026 with the wider trail-running calendar reorganised around how he chooses to build into it.
Evans approached his title-winning campaign last year via a sparing schedule built around the Western States 100, where he finished third in 14:43, and a quiet UTMB-week tune-up. He has signalled he is unlikely to repeat the Western States double in 2026, with sources close to the athlete telling Running Lookout that a long mid-summer block in Chamonix is more likely than a return to the California canyons. The decision would also avoid the recovery cost of a high-altitude US-Europe transition that has proved a stumbling block for several previous UTMB challengers.
The defending champion will line up against a stacked field that already features Vincent Bouillard, the 2024 winner returning after a year off the Mont-Blanc circuit, the Scottish ultrarunner Jonathan Albon and 2025 runner-up Baptiste Chassagne, with Kilian Jornet again expected to be on the start line as he chases a fifth UTMB crown. The women's race, which Katie Schide won last year in 22:46, sees the American return to defend against Courtney Dauwalter, Toni McCann and Eszter Csillag, all of whom have already accepted Mont-Blanc starts in their 2026 racing plans.
The 176-kilometre, 10,000-metre-of-vertical course will use largely the same loop that produced last year's record-friendly conditions, with start time confirmed as 6 p.m. on Friday 28 August. Race organisers have signalled minor course tweaks at La Flégère and across the Col des Pyramides Calcaires after rockfall last autumn, and have moved the women's elite waiting area inside the gate for the first time. Live streaming will once again be carried on the UTMB Live platform with English-language coverage from a CITIUS Mag-led panel.
Evans's confirmation is the latest in a deliberate trail-by-trail spring rollout for the 2026 men's elite field, with UTMB still leaning into individual athlete stories rather than a single field reveal. The reigning champion, who has spoken publicly about the weight of returning as defending winner, said in the announcement video that the goal is “a faster, more deliberate race” rather than the chase he ran from third on the 2025 climbs. He will run the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in late June as his only formal pre-UTMB tune-up, with smaller mountain efforts in Chamonix to follow through July and early August.