Paris (AFP)

The UTMB group, whose flagship event is the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc at the end of August in Chamonix, is launching a new circuit for 2022, in partnership with the Ironman group, i.e. around 35 trail running races around the world, with a large final the legendary UTMB event.

From 2022, trail races will be brought together in a circuit called UTMB World Series, designed jointly with the Ironman group, known for its famous extreme triathlon but which since 2017 has acquired trail races, particularly in Australia and New Zealand.

"It seemed preferable to us to forge an alliance with people sincerely interested in sport rather than developing an international circuit on our own, that was also their intention. We did not want to create even more confusion in sport" , explains to AFP Michel Poletti, who founded the UTMB with his wife, Catherine Poletti.

"Trail running needs to be structured today, the sport is not readable. We know that the UTMB Mont Blanc is the biggest race of the year. By creating the UTMB World Series in partnership with Ironman , we create an elite circuit with a final every year in Mont Blanc ", he continues, justifying the overhaul of the current system by" the dead end "in which the UTMB had arrived" with too many requests for a few years " .

Created in 2003, the UTMB is the most emblematic extreme endurance race and the original event of trail running competitions, a discipline recognized in 2015 by the International Athletics Federation.

Each year, 2,300 runners take the start of the main distance, the 100 miles (approximately 170 km), for three times more registration requests (7,861 in 2019 according to the organizers).

Seven races (from 40 km to 170 km) are now on the program in Chamonix, i.e. 10,000 runners (for 21,700 requests in 2019).

The sesames are awarded after a draw among the eligible trailers, that is to say those who have accumulated qualifying points at the International Trail Running Association (ITRA), created in 2013 by Michel Poletti.

Competitions delivering points are referenced by the Ultra Trail World Tour (UTWT), founded in 2014.

That year, a sling was organized, 'No Itra', to "denounce and reject the system".

The UTWT will disappear at the end of the year to make way for the World Series, which currently has eight competitions and whose full program will be announced at a later date.

The circuit will have three major distances: the 50 km, the 100 km and the 100 miles.

To access the holy grail of 'UTMB mont Blanc', runners must take part in at least one of the races on the circuit.

A draw will then be made.

The elites will have direct access, either by finishing in the Top 3 of a classic race, or in the Top 10 of one of the three major distances.

© 2021 AFP