The grand finale of the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors takes place next weekend in Cape Town, South Africa, at the RMB Ultra-Trail Cape Town event. Its flagship race, 98 kilometres and 4972 metres of elevation gain, will determine the final classification of the circuit in which €47,000 in cash prizes will be awarded, plus what each race awards individually. After nine races in Hong Kong, United States, Spain, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Canada and France, the top positions in the rankings are undecided and there is scope for a major shake-up in the rankings. The mathematics of Gran Canaria World Trail Majors.
Current standings and tie-breaker criteria
Gran Canaria World Trail Majors awards 1500 points to the winner of each race in the series, 1420 for second and 1360 for the third. Up to 20th place, the points are fixed, from 21st place onwards they are awarded according to the ITRA scale, which is also used for tie-break situations. A maximum of two races score points for the series championship.
ITRA (International Trail Running Association) is the world’s most recognised association for the promotion of trail running as a sport and uses a score system that allows the comparison of performances in different races, it is simple, proven, well-known and established, therefore the ideal way to decide tie-breaks, so, apart from the runner’s score in the race, there is an associated ITRA score in case there is a tie, which there will be.
Currently the women’s rankings are tied for first with American Courtney Dauwalter – winner of The North Face Transgrancanaria and Mt.FUJI 100, and Canadian Anne Champagne – winner of back-to-back Quebec Mega Trail and Grand Raid des Pyrenees. In third place is French athlete Claire Bannwarth – fourth in MIUT-Madeira Island Ultra-Trail and sixth in the tough Quebec Mega Trail.
In the men’s category there is a Chinese trio on the provisional podium with Guangfu Meng -winner of the Hong Kong 100 and fourth in Swiss Canyon Trail, followed by Guomin Deng -fifth in Hong Kong and winner in Mt.FUJI 100, and Guidu Qin -fourth in Hong Kong and second in Fuji.
Courtney Dauwalter has her hand on the crown but it depends on Rachel Drake
Salomon runner Courtney Dauwalter is the virtual winner of the inaugural edition of the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors thanks to her victories in The North Face Transgrancanaria and Mt. FUJI 100. The latter was also a third place overall, which gave her an excellent ITRA ranking that makes it virtually impossible for her to lose the title of series champion.
In second place is Anne Champagne, also with two victories, but a lower ITRA tie-break score and this is where the finishing positions in the final race of the series could start to come into play. Rachel Drake is the only one who can take the overall victory from Courtney, having won the Black Canyon Ultras (1,500 points). With another win in Cape Town, she could claim the overall title if she earns 921 ITRA points and finishes second or third in the final general classification. This would tie her with Champagne, but the outcome would then depend on the tiebreaker.
There are other possibilities in the math, the podium could be hotly contested. China’s Junyue Zheng, currently fifth with 2470 points and three races completed, a good result in South Africa would lift her onto the podium. Canada’s Geneviève Asselin-Demers, currently seventh after a sixth place in Black Canyon Ultras and eighth in Madeira, but a top result in UTCT would give her a significant leap in the overall standings. Great Britain’s Hannah Green was third in her home race, South Downs Way 100, currently 31st overall with one score so far. Fourth in the same race, Eve Moore, will also be in South Africa; and finally, the Netherlands’ Anouk Baars was fifth at Transgrancanaria and is able to finish on the final podium.
As we can see, although Courtney Dauwalter’s victory is all but guaranteed, the fight for the podium and the top 5 is very open and interesting.
Arsénio and Cauchon: Challenging the dominance of Chinese athletes
With the entire podium in the hands of Chinese runners, it is up to the Europeans and North Americans to challenge the current leaders. With 2810, 2760 and 2730 points, Meng, Deng, and Qin are in the top three positions of the Gran Canaria World Trail Majors with the South African race still to come.
The winners of Swiss Canyon Trail and Quebec Mega Trail, Miguel Arsénio and Jean François Cauchon, each with 1500 points, are in South Africa to challenge for the overall. If either of them podium in the UTCT, they win the series and the €12000 prize money. If they finish off the podium then possible tie-break decider will determine the overall standings. Unfortunately, the winner of The North Face Transgrancanaria, Raul Butaci, will not be able to attend Cape Town due to last-minute issues, despite his initial intention to do so.
Other runners with opportunities to improve their positions and enter the top ten in the final classification are: American Richard Lockwood, German Cristoph Kahl, Finn Bartosz Kopczynski, and British Ashley Norie. The current top 10 standings of Abel Carretero, Sangé Sherpa, Ionel Cristian Manole among others, are likely to change and with it some of the prize money.
The fight for the overall series podium is very exciting and anything can happen, including a complete change of podium positions. This will all be answered on Saturday in Cape Town for the RMB Ultra-Trail Cape Town.
Provisional overall ranking Gran Canaria World Trail Majors with 9 out of 10 races complete
Women’s provisional overall ranking
1. Courtney Dauwalter (U.S.A., Salomon) – 3000
2. Anne Champagne (Canada, Salomon) – 3000
3. Claire Bannwarth (France, Topo Athletic/Brubeck) – 2530
4. Kelsey Hogan (Canada, Norda) – 2470
5. Junyue Zheng (China, Kailas) – 2470
6. Angie Chi Yee Yan (Hong Kong, The North Face) – 2410
7. Geneviève Asselin-Demers (Canada, On) – 2360
8. Clara de Bortoli (France) – 2040
9. Laura Breaux (France) – 1576
10. Rachel Drake (U.S.A, Nike) – 1500
Men’s provisional overall ranking
1. Guangfu Meng (China, Hoka) – 2810
2. Guomin Deng (China, The North Face) – 2760
3. Guidu Qin (China, Outopia) – 2730
4. Abel Carretera (Spain, Otso) – 2670
5. Sangé Sherpa (Nepal, Kailas) – 2670
6. Ionel Cristian Manole (Romania, Big K) – 2620
7. Ferdinand Clovis Airault (France) – 2560
8. Luis Fernandes (Portugal, Madeira Ocean & Trails) – 2480
9. Cédric Chavet (France) – 2100
10. Alexandre Boucheix (France, Salomon) – 1963
Scoring system explained: https://worldtrailmajors.com/ranking/
Provisional ranking (9/10 races): https://worldtrailmajors.com/results/world-trail-majors-ranking
Streaming RMB Ultra-Trail Cape Town: https://bit.ly/WTM-Streaming
