M60-64 at UTMB: Verriere Leads a Tight Three-Way Finish Around the Massif

• Emmanuel Verriere won the M60-64 race in 33:22:48 (18:31/mi), climbing from 710th to 395th among men across the race.
• The podium was decided in under 24 minutes: Verriere, Martin Ploner (2nd, 33:43:26), and David Miao (3rd, 33:46:26) all finished within 23 minutes and 38 seconds of each other across a 174 km course.
• François Muller made the biggest charge of the day, moving from 1,400th to 655th among men — a gain of 745 places — to finish 5th in 37:33:19.
• Twelve of the 21 finishers came in between the 41- and 45-hour mark, a testament to the relentlessness of UTMB's 9,700+ meters of climbing at altitude.

Emmanuel Verriere claimed the M60-64 title in 33:22:48, steadily working his way through the men's field — from 710th at the first checkpoint all the way to 395th by the finish. His most decisive stretch came on the Grand Col Ferret to La Fouly segment, where he posted the 318th-fastest men's split. It wasn't flashy, but it was consistent, and on a course that circumnavigates the entire Mont-Blanc massif through France, Italy, and Switzerland, consistency is currency.

Martin Ploner made his move on the Arnouvaz to Grand Col Ferret climb — the 299th-fastest men's split on that leg — vaulting from 962nd to eventually 414th among men. That surge got him to the line in 33:43:26, just 20 minutes and 38 seconds behind Verriere. David Miao, running an 18:45/mi average, closed the gap further and finished 3rd in 33:46:26, just 3 minutes behind Ploner. Miao's best segment came on the Arête du Mont-Favre to Checrouit leg, where he posted the 328th-fastest men's split. Three men, three different strong segments, separated by less than half an hour after more than 33 hours of racing.

David Faustino (4th, 36:57:06) and François Muller (5th, 37:33:19) were in a class of their own for the next tier. Muller's trajectory was the most dramatic in the field — starting deep in the pack and grinding forward all the way to 655th among men. Behind them, the race spread wide: Eugenio Maria Canni Ferrari finished 6th in 38:00:31, Joe Amo 7th in 39:19:17, and Matjaz Campa — at 64, the oldest on the podium fringe — 8th in 39:53:16. Francisco Javier De Benito Bustillo (19th, 45:25:16) and Christopher Smith (20th, 45:29:21) crossed with just minutes to spare inside the 45-hour 30-minute cutoff, earning their finishes the hard way.