Baptiste Derouin, the 30-year-old Haguenau-based engineer who has spent the spring quietly preparing in the Vosges foothills, won the Trail Alsace by UTMB Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers 158K on Sunday in 16:27:32. Derouin took the lead from Belgium's Benjamin Gys at the Wangenbourg checkpoint at 92 kilometres and rode out the closing descent into Obernai alone, lifting his arms as he crossed the line just after midday. Gys held on for second in 16:35:33 and Quentin Dassé of Obernai delivered the loudest local moment of the weekend with third place in 16:49:36, his first ultra-trail podium.
The race had been expected to be Sébastien Spehler's. The Alsace local, who won here in 2024 and again in 2025, had been the unanimous pre-race favourite but was forced into an early withdrawal after contracting a throat infection in the fortnight before the start. Spehler's withdrawal blew the men's race open and the lead changed hands four times in the first 60 kilometres, with Derouin one of three runners who took turns at the front through the Donon climb. The Donon-Hohwald section, where overnight rain made the technical descents particularly treacherous, ultimately decided the contest.
The women's race went to Switzerland's Anaïs Sabrié, who led from the Mont Sainte-Odile climb at 110 kilometres and finished in 19:14:08, a course record by more than half an hour. France's Marion Delespierre was second in 19:55:31 and Britain's Beth Pascall, who had travelled from her base in the Lake District after the Lakes Sky Ultra fortnight earlier, was third in 20:09:18. Pascall's third place is her best European 100-mile finish since the 2024 UTMB and pads her UTMB Index ahead of a planned Hardrock 100 start in July.
Trail Alsace's third edition since joining the UTMB World Series produced a near-record 4,750 finishers across the Chevaliers 158K, Lions 110K, Templiers 60K, Aigles 30K and Loup 15K, the largest field the event has ever fielded. Race director Aurélien Sanchez said the wet weather, which had threatened a course shortening on Friday, ultimately gave way for the bulk of the field, and only 38 runners were pulled from the 158K for missed cut-offs. The race retains its UTMB Major status and remains a stepping stone for runners targeting Chamonix in late August.
Sanchez also confirmed that the 2027 edition will move to the second weekend of May to avoid a clash with the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia, and that a new 80-kilometre “Vosges Crest” distance will be introduced alongside the existing slate. Derouin, who had not previously raced beyond 100 kilometres, said the win was “a complete surprise” and added that he would step up to UTMB CCC in Chamonix in August. Pascall and Sabrié both confirmed they would also be on the UTMB start line.