Wikipedia

Tor des Géants

Tor des Géants (meaning Tour of Giants in Valdôtain, the dialect of Arpitan spoken in Aosta Valley) is an endurance trail race which takes place in Aosta Valley, Italy, in September.

Tor des Géants
Tor des Géants runners with the Gran Paradiso in background
EventRace
SportTrail running
NationItaly
RegionAosta Valley
Participant1100 from all over the world (2023)
Dateyearly, mid-September
Lengthabout 330km (205mi)
Men’s RecordFranco Collé, 66h43' (2021)
Women’s RecordSabrina Verjee, 80h19’ (2022)
SiteOfficial site

Description

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The start and the finish are in Courmayeur. The total length of the race is 330 km (205 mi) which must be completed in less than 150 hours. There are 43 refreshment points at which the runners can eat, sleep, and, if needed, obtain medical care. There are also 7 life bases, which are bigger than refreshment points. They are placed about every 50 km (31 mi). Because of its difficulty, many athletes do not complete the race. The completion rate is about 60%. Around 2000 volunteers are used to organize the race. Weather can be a challenge, given the large elevation changes over the course and competitors can encounter sun, rain, wind, and even snow. The number of participants is limited because of the complexity of managing people over the 330 km trek. For the 2015 edition were 2291 pre-registrations. The 2016 race was conducted under ITRA regulations.

The inaugural edition was in 2010.

The 2012 edition was interrupted on the fourth night and stopped on the fifth day at En Bosses (303 km). About 70 runners completed the whole course.

The 2013 edition was marked by the death of the Chinese runner, Yang Yuan. He fell and hit his head on rocks during the rainy first night of the race. The site of the accident has a cairn inscribed with a poem written by Yang Yuan.

The 2015 edition was interrupted on the third night due to severe weather and stopped on the fourth night, because Col Malatra got covered by ice. Only six runners completed the race.

In 2016, local authorities organized a competing race 4K VDA. The suspected reasons were concerns for runner's safety and the costs. The race started and ended in Cogne and went clockwise (unlike Tor).

The 2017 edition introduced a GPS tracking system. The Tor des Géants website,[1] shows live data for each athlete including time of pass at specific points along the path, overall ranking, median speed, distance and elevation gain traveled. There is also a map that shows the athletes live position.[2]

Path

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The race in the Champorcher valley

The trail is a tour of Aosta Valley following the two "High Routes" of the region, the Italian: Alta Via n.2 or French: Haute route n°2[3] for the first half of the race, and the Italian: Alta Via n.1 or French: Haute route n°1[4] for the second half of the race. During the tour, the runners cross 34 municipalities, 25 mountain passes over 2000 metres, 30 alpine lakes and 2 natural parks. The minimum altitude is 300 m (985 ft) and the highest is 3,300 m (10800 ft). The total elevation gain is about 24,000 m (78700 ft).[5]

Hall of Fame

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Male 2010
# Runner Category Time
1   Ulrich Gross Sen 80h27'23"
2   Salvador Calvo Redondo Vet 2 86h47'54"
3   Guillaume Millet Vet 1 87h17'37"
Female 2010
# Runner Category Time
1   Annemarie Gross Vet 1 91h19'13"
2   Julia Boettger Sen 100h03'51"
3   Corinne Favre Sen 114h40'37"
Male 2011
# Runner Category Time
1   Jules-Henri Gabioud Sen 1 79h58'26"
2   Christophe Le Saux Sen 2 84h09'46"
3   Pablo Criado Toca Sen 2 89h43'07"
Female 2011
# Runner Category Time
1   Annemarie Gross Vet 1 91h28'31"
2   Patrizia Pensa Vet 1 102h25'42"
3   Giuliana Arrigoni Vet 1 102h26'05"
Male 2012
# Runner Actual time Recalculated time
1   Óscar Pérez 75h56'31 75h56'31"
2   Grégoire Millet 78h50'03" 78h50'03"
3   Christophe Le Saux 80h14'14" 80h14'14"
Female 2012
# Runner Actual time Recalculated time
1   Francesca Canepa 99h13'56" 85h33'56"
2   Sonia Glarey 104h45'54" 96h59'54"
3   Patrizia Pensa 106h00'15" 97h06'15"
Male 2013
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Iker Karrera 1 70h04'15"
2   Óscar Pérez 2 70h29'41"
3   Franco Collé 3 72h05'23"
Female 2013
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Francesca Canepa 15 88h12'17"
2   Nerea Martinez Urruzola 20 91h01'42"
3   Emanuela Scilla Tonetti 25 94h45'59"
Male 2014
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Franco Collé 1 71h49'10"
2   Hollon Nickademus 2 76h29'38"
3   Guillon Antoine 3 79h02'29"
Female 2014
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Émilie Lecomte 9 85h53'14"
2   Lisa Borzani 22 94h43'46"
3   Denise Zimmermann 32 98h27'16"
Male 2015
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Patrick Bohard 1 80h20'35"
2   Gianluca Galeati 2 80h44'34"
3   Christophe Le Saux 3 81h19'25"
Female 2015 (last aid station status before race was stopped due to bad weather)
# Runner Overall place Time Arrive base
1   Denise Zimmermann 9 79h12'35" Ollomont Out
2   Lisa Borzani 22 80h16'24" Ollomont Out
3   Marina Plavan 32 85h55'00" Ollomont In
Male 2016
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Oliviero Bosatelli 1 75h10'22"
2   Óscar Pérez 2 81h14'50"
3   Pablo Criado Toca 3 83h40'10"
Female 2016
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Lisa Borzani 7 91h09'44"
2   Stephanie Case 14 98h15'27"
3   Maria Semerjian 19 100h18'42"
Male 2017
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Javier Dominguez-Ledo 1 67h52'
2   Oliviero Bosatelli 2 69h16'
3   Andrea Macchi 3 74h51'
Female 2017
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Lisa Borzani 11 89h40'
2   Silvia Trigueros-Garrote 23 97h43'
3   Marina Plavan 46 106h29'
Male 2018
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Franco Collé 1 74h03'
2   Galen Reynolds 2 74h40'
3   Peter Kienzl 3 77h31'
Female 2018
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Silvia Trigueros-Garrote 12 87h50'
2   Emanuela-Scilla Tonetti 25 95h54'
2   Jamie Aarons 25 95h54'
Male 2019
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Oliviero Bosatelli 1 72h37'
2   Galen Reynolds 2 77h06'
3   Danilo Lantermino 3 79h09'
Female 2019
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Silvia Trigueros-Garrote 85h23'
2   Jocelyne Pauly 94h22'
3   Chiara Boggio 96h55'
Male 2021
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Franco Collé 1 66h43'
2   Jonas Russi 2 69h03'
3   Petter Restorp 3 76h36’
Female 2021
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Silvia Trigueros-Garrote 13 89h57’
2   Melissa Paganelli 16 93h35’
3   Nicky Spinks 29 101h16’
Male 2022
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Jonas Russi 1 70h31'
2   Simone Corsini 2 75h27’
3   Andrea Macchi 3 76h43’
Female 2022
# Runner Overall place Time
1   Sabrina Verjee 5 80h19’
2   Silvia Trigueros-Garrote 10 84h58’
3   Sandrine Beranger 17 89h40’

Photos

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  •  
    Indications at Coda refuge.
  •  
    Tor des Géants at refuge Victor Sella.
  •  
    The Grand Assaly complex seen from Albert Deffeyes refuge.
  •  
    The "Fenêtre de Champorcher", after the first 115 km.
  •  
    Yang Yuan monument at night

References

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  1. ^ Athletes live timing
  2. ^ Athletes live position
  3. ^ High Route no.2 on LoveVda.it
  4. ^ High Route no.1 on LoveVda.it
  5. ^ Path description Archived 26 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
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