Two of ultrarunning’s most celebrated champions have been stopped in their tracks at one of the sport’s most grueling events — and nobody’s talking about why.
Courtney Dauwalter and Vincent Bouillard, both former UTMB winners, withdrew from the 2026 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc within just 13 minutes of each other early Saturday morning, both calling it quits at the same point on the course.
Neither athlete has offered a public explanation, leaving the ultrarunning world searching for answers.
Here’s everything we know about what happened on those trails overnight — and who’s still out there chasing glory around Mont Blanc.
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Two Champions, One Aid Station, Zero Explanations
The withdrawals of Dauwalter and Bouillard were first reported by French publications Ouest-France and Le Dauphiné, with both runners officially listed as withdrawn on the race’s LiveTrail tracker.
Both stopped at Lac Combal — 68 kilometers, or roughly 42 miles, into the epic loop around Mont Blanc.
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That’s a long way to go. It’s also a long way from the finish line in Chamonix.
Bouillard’s Brutal Fade From the Front
Bouillard arrived at this race as one of the hottest names in the sport. The 2024 UTMB champion — who clocked a winning time of 19:54:23 — had just months earlier shattered Jim Walmsley’s legendary course record at the Western States 100, finishing in 13:46:15 and taking a stunning 23 minutes off the benchmark.
He came out firing on Friday night, leading through Saint-Gervais at 22.9 kilometers with a split of 1:54:29.
Then the mountain had other ideas.
The brutal climb to the Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme unraveled his race almost completely. LiveTrail calculated his pace through that section at just 4.2 km/h — and by the time he reached the refuge, he’d tumbled from 13th place all the way to 57th, a drop of 44 positions in a single hour.
His final recorded passage was at Lac Combal at 3:43 a.m., sitting 95th overall, 7 hours and 55 minutes into the race. After that, silence.
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Dauwalter’s Night of Ups and Downs — Mostly Downs
Courtney Dauwalter’s story is somehow even more striking. The two-time UTMB champion — victorious in both 2021 and 2023 — came in fresh off a course record at the Hardrock 100 on July 10, where she blazed a clockwise time of 26:03:10.
She led the women’s race early, cresting the Col de Voza after 14.5 kilometers in 1:23:41.
What followed was a night of yo-yoing through the field that tells its own story. She was 13th among women at Saint-Gervais, climbed back to fourth at the Croix du Bonhomme, then slid to 12th by Lac Combal — where she passed through in 8:08:11 and sat 129th overall.
That number is jarring context. When Dauwalter won this very race in 2021, she finished seventh overall among all starters, men included. This time, she never cracked the top 80 after Saint-Gervais.
LiveTrail recorded just 2 minutes and 20 seconds of total stopped time for her through the course — meaning this wasn’t a case of lingering at aid stations. Something else was going on, and she hasn’t said what.
They Weren’t Alone — The Night Claimed Many
Dauwalter and Bouillard were the biggest names to exit, but far from the only ones. Several other top competitors disappeared from the tracker at the same 68-kilometer aid station around the same hours.
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Rod Farvard was last recorded at Lac Combal at 3:29 a.m. Britain’s Josh Wade came through at 3:48 a.m. — the two of them essentially bracketing Bouillard and Dauwalter’s exits within a 30-minute window at the exact same spot.
Others fell away earlier and later. China’s Fuzhao Xiang and American Canyon Woodward both withdrew at Les Contamines before midnight. Italy’s Andreas Reiterer reached the Refuge Bertone at 5:15 a.m. before stopping. Hungary’s Eszter Csillag pushed through to Courmayeur — 81 kilometers in — before calling it at 6:48 a.m.
By 7:58 a.m. Saturday, LiveTrail counted 177 total withdrawals from 2,407 starters — 7.35 percent of the field already gone. Among the 100 highest-rated runners by bib number, 21 had already dropped.
Where the Course Broke Runners Down
The withdrawals clustered in telling places. Les Contamines-Montjoie at 32 kilometers saw the heaviest carnage — 54 runners stopped there, with another eight timed out. Les Chapieux at 52 kilometers claimed 44 more.
And this happened under clear skies.
After Friday’s thunderstorms delayed the start by two hours, Ouest-France reported mild temperatures, minimal wind, and a full moon lighting the trails. No weather excuses — the mountain itself was simply doing what it always does.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Who’s Still Running — and Who Was Already Gone
The race was already missing some of its biggest names before a single runner reached the start. Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley, Ruth Croft, and Tom Evans all failed to toe the line this year.
Those still chasing the finish are writing their own drama. Ben Dhiman led through La Fouly at 114 kilometers in 11:36:37, with Baptiste Chassagne 25 minutes back and Joaquin Lopez close behind. Caleb Olson and Antoine Charvolin crossed the Grand Col Ferret just two seconds apart.
On the women’s side, Blandine L’Hirondel commanded the race through Arnouvaz with a 13-minute 20-second cushion over Rachel Entrekin, and Careth Arnold running in third.
The leaders are expected to return to Chamonix Saturday afternoon — but the withdrawal count will keep climbing long after. Last year, 827 of 2,492 starters didn’t finish, a DNF rate of 33.19 percent. UTMB doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve won before.
The mountain always gets the final word.
