Two days after the 90 km and the victory of the Russian couple Dmitrii and Ekaterina Mityaeva, the legendary 42 km (2,540 m D +) of the Mont-Blanc Marathon delivered its verdict this Sunday in Chamonix: Elhousine Elazzaoui won ahead of the defending champion and big favorite Rémi Bonnet Place du Triangle de l’Amitié. The battle was intense between the two men, who played cat and mouse from the 10th kilometer.
In the end, it was the Moroccan who finished stronger and therefore crossed the finish line 46 seconds before the Swiss, winner last year in 3h35’04. “ This victory means a lot to me, I’ve wanted to win the Mont-Blanc Marathon for a while, reacted Elhousine Elazzaoui, who joined Kilian Jornet’s Nnormal team. It will give me even more confidence for the future, I know that I am capable of doing even better. Today Rémi was very strong but I stayed calm and attacked him at the 36th kilometer to get the victory. »
“Elhousine was very strong today so congratulations to him”
For his 4th participation, Elazzaoui set a time of 3h30’10, while Bonnet completed the loop in 3h30’56. “ I’m happy, for my first marathon of the year I think I couldn’t do better, admitted Rémi Bonnet. If you look at the times we achieved today it was much faster than last year. It shows that the level increases every year and that this second place is even better than my victory last year. Elhousine was very strong today so congratulations to him. »
The podium for this stage of the Golden Trail World Series circuit is completed by another Swiss, Roberto Delorenzi (3h33’07), while the best French performance is to the credit of Frédéric Tranchand (3h39’33).
The first woman is the Swiss whirlwind Judith Wyder, 41st overall and author of a time of 4h11’12. I’m happy with my strategy today, Judith Wyder confided. I felt strong on the rolling parts, but had more difficulty on the steep climbs. Despite everything, if I could stay in contact with the girls in front I knew that I could then go for victory and that’s what I did. » The second is the formidable Romanian Monica Madalina Florea (43rd overall, 4h13’42), who finished ahead of the Chinese Miao Yao (49th overall, 4h18’30).
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