F20-34: Gregory Hunts Down Lang in the Final Miles to Steal the Win by Three Seconds

• Three seconds. Lauren Gregory (6:08:09) edged Naomi Lang (6:08:12) after Lang led the women's field from the Champex-Lac checkpoint all the way to the final stretch — the narrowest margin in a 148-woman F20-34 field.
• Sara Alonso was never far away, running a measured race to finish 3rd in 6:09:13 — just 64 seconds off the win across more than six hours of racing.
• Makena Morley (4th, 6:16:39) posted the 2nd-fastest women's split on the Argentière→Finish leg, closing hard but unable to bridge the 7+ minute gap to the podium trio.
• Ida Amelie Robsahm (5th, 6:27:36) contributed the 3rd-fastest women's split on La Giète→Trient, steadily climbing from 8th in the women's field to 5th by the finish.

The story of this race is one of the great late-race hunts on the course from Orsières to Chamonix. Naomi Lang, 26, ran aggressively from the front — she was already 10th among women at the start and had surged to 1st by the Champex-Lac checkpoint, a position she held through six successive timing points. With the 3,500 meters of climbing absorbed and the finish in Chamonix drawing close, she looked to have it locked up. Then came Lauren Gregory.

Gregory, 27, had been patient — sitting 9th among women through the first two checkpoints before climbing steadily to 3rd by mid-race. The decisive move came on the Télécabine Vallorcine→Argentière segment, where she posted the fastest women's split of anyone on that leg, and she carried that momentum all the way to the line. Three seconds. After more than six hours of racing over a 60-kilometer course that now includes a new high point at 2,321 meters between Col de Balme and Col des Posettes, Gregory arrived in Chamonix in 6:08:09 — just enough to flip the result. Lang's 6:08:12 was a superb effort, and her front-running strategy nearly paid off completely.

Sara Alonso, also 27, added another layer of drama. She owned the fastest women's split on the Trient→Col de Balme segment and was never outside the top four among women after the opening checkpoint — a relentlessly consistent performance that earned her 3rd in 6:09:13. Behind the podium, Greta García Morán (6th, 6:34:45), Bailey Kowalczyk (7th, 6:36:20), and Naiara Irigoyen (8th, 6:43:54) rounded out the top eight, with Kim Schreiber finishing 9th in 6:44:03 — just nine seconds back. Agnes Josefsson, the youngest finisher in the top 15 at age 20, crossed 14th in 6:58:58.