Ben Dhiman and Blandine L’Hirondel win the 2026 HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc after commanding races in Chamonix, with history made in the women’s race.
The HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc 2026 winners were settled in Chamonix by two races that could hardly have been won more differently.
Ben Dhiman took command almost immediately and spent 18 hours making pursuit look increasingly optimistic.
Blandine L’Hirondel began without victory as her stated objective, emerged from the night in front and finished with a place in UTMB history.
Saturday belonged to both of them, although neither victory required much assistance from convention.
Ben Dhiman turns UTMB 2026 into a solo exercise
Dhiman had finished runner-up the previous year and made the 2026 race his principal target. There was precious little ambiguity about the plan once the running began.
Following the day’s final heavy downpour, conditions improved. The American set the pace from the opening kilometres, found himself alone and stayed there. No late tactical ambush, no theatrical collapse, no convenient resurrection at the final aid station. He simply kept moving away.
Dhiman reached Chamonix in 18 h 16, completing a start-to-finish victory that left the rest of the men’s field contesting a different race.
“I quickly found myself alone, but I decided to stick to my own pace without slowing down. One of the main goals of my preparation was to become more comfortable on technical sections, and I think that helped me become faster and gain confidence. I feel very lucky to be able to run these trails, in these incredible mountains, and do what I love.”
The revealing detail is not merely that Dhiman led throughout, but that he appeared willing to accept the considerable responsibility that comes with doing so. There is nowhere to hide at the front of an ultra. Every decision is yours, including the stupid ones. This time, his judgement held.
Chassagne and Olson separated by less than a minute
The closest drama came behind him.
France’s Baptiste Chassagne finished second in 18 h 47, repeating the runner-up position he had achieved in 2024. He needed almost all of that margin.
American Caleb Olson arrived in 18 h 48, less than a minute later, having spent a lengthy portion of the race chasing Ecuador’s Joaquin Lopez.
After more than 18 hours in the mountains, a podium place being decided by less than 60 seconds feels mildly unreasonable. Ultra-running has never shown much interest in reasonable working hours.
Dhiman, meanwhile, had finished roughly half an hour earlier. His principal battle had ceased to be with another runner long before Chamonix came into view.
Blandine L’Hirondel takes control through the night
The women’s race followed a less predictable script.
Blandine L’Hirondel said she was not at 100 per cent before the start and did not begin the race with victory as her objective. Neither detail survived contact with the mountains particularly well.
L’Hirondel established herself near the front alongside American Rachel Entrekin, proving especially effective across technical terrain and the steepest climbs. As darkness settled over the race, the Frenchwoman gradually opened the gap.
Eventually, she was alone.
She crossed the finish line in 21 h 54, with Entrekin second in 22 h 15. Emily Schmitz completed the podium in 22 h 17 after fighting Careth Arnold for third.
It was a surprise result, but hardly an accidental one. L’Hirondel did not inherit the race through one isolated mishap ahead of her; she applied pressure through the night and steadily converted proximity into separation.
L’Hirondel completes a rare UTMB Finals triple
The victory also changed the dimensions of L’Hirondel’s career.
She had already won OCC in 2021 and CCC in 2022. By adding UTMB in 2026, she became the second woman to complete the UTMB World Series Finals triple.
She joins Ruth Croft and Xavier Thévenard as the only athletes identified in the supplied results as having previously achieved the feat across the men’s and women’s races.
For a runner who had not arrived declaring that UTMB victory was the mission, it is quite a substantial souvenir.
“What really stood out to me was the crowd. They were incredible. I lost my eardrum in Saint-Gervais and I never got it back! The support and enthusiasm from the crowd are incredibly motivating for me. I have no words. I still can’t believe it, and I think it will take me several months to fully realize what happened. I didn’t start with this goal in mind. It’s a real team effort with my family and my coach.”
The line about her eardrum may be figurative. The noise in Saint-Gervais evidently was not.
Dauwalter and Bouillard among the major UTMB DNFs
Not every prominent name reached Chamonix.
The night brought DNFs for two notable UTMB figures, Courtney Dauwalter and Vincent Bouillard. Their departures were reminders of the obvious truth that UTMB occasionally makes even exceptional runners look mortal.
That context sharpens the achievement at the front. Finishing these races is demanding enough. Controlling one, as Dhiman did, is another matter entirely.
Winning while believing beforehand that your best form may not be there, as L’Hirondel managed, presents a different sort of examination.
Chamonix still has unfinished business
The winners may have been crowned, but the 2026 HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc week was not quite finished.
The programme was due to conclude the following day with the final PTL and UTMB arrivals and the closing awards ceremonies. Attention was also turning towards the remaining Team Adaptive participants.
Jonathan Naboulet and his team were attempting to become the first team using a joëlette to complete the UTMB inside the time limit, while Julien Veysseyre was seeking to become the first amputee athlete to finish the race using a transtibial prosthesis.
Those stories would have their own finish lines.
For Saturday, though, Chamonix had its champions: Dhiman by relentless control, L’Hirondel by steadily turning an unexpected possibility into history.
One led from the beginning. The other ended somewhere she had not expected to be. Both found exactly the same arch.
