# Tor des Géants

Tor des Géants (meaning Tour of Giants in Valdôtain, the dialect of Arpitan spoken in Aosta Valley) is an endurance trail race which takes place in Aosta Valley, Italy, in September.

## Description

The start and the finish are in Courmayeur. The total length of the race is 330 km (205 mi) which must be completed in less than 150 hours. There are 43 refreshment points at which the runners can eat, sleep, and, if needed, obtain medical care. There are also 7 life bases, which are bigger than refreshment points. They are placed about every 50 km (31 mi). Because of its difficulty, many athletes do not complete the race. The completion rate is about 60%. Around 2000 volunteers are used to organize the race. Weather can be a challenge, given the large elevation changes over the course and competitors can encounter sun, rain, wind, and even snow. The number of participants is limited because of the complexity of managing people over the 330 km trek. For the 2015 edition there were 2291 pre-registrations. The 2016 race was conducted under ITRA regulations.
The inaugural edition was in 2010.
The 2012 edition was interrupted on the fourth night and stopped on the fifth day at En Bosses (303 km). About 70 runners completed the whole course.
The 2013 edition was marked by the death of the Chinese runner, Yang Yuan. He fell and hit his head on rocks during the rainy first night of the race. The site of the accident has a cairn inscribed with a poem written by Yang Yuan.
The 2015 edition was interrupted on the third night due to severe weather and stopped on the fourth night, because Col Malatra got covered by ice. Only six runners completed the race.
In 2016, local authorities organized a competing race 4K VDA. The suspected reasons were concerns for runner's safety and the costs. The race started and ended in Cogne and went clockwise (unlike Tor).
The 2017 edition introduced a GPS tracking system. The Tor des Géants website, shows live data for each athlete including time of pass at specific points along the path, overall ranking, median speed, distance and elevation gain traveled. There is also a map that shows the athletes live position.

## Path

The trail is a tour of Aosta Valley following the two "High Routes" of the region, the Italian: Alta Via n.2 or French: Haute route n°2 for the first half of the race, and the Italian: Alta Via n.1 or French: Haute route n°1 for the second half of the race. During the tour, the runners cross 34 municipalities, 25 mountain passes over 2000 metres, 30 alpine lakes and 2 natural parks. The minimum altitude is 300 m (985 ft) and the highest is 3,300 m (10800 ft). The total elevation gain is about 24,000 m (78700 ft).

## Hall of Fame

Male 2010 :
| # | Runner | Category | Time |
| 1 | Ulrich Gross | Sen | 80h27'23" |
| 2 | Salvador Calvo Redondo | Vet 2 | 86h47'54" |
| 3 | Guillaume Millet | Vet 1 | 87h17'37" |
Female 2010 :
| # | Runner | Category | Time |
| 1 | Annemarie Gross | Vet 1 | 91h19'13" |
| 2 | Julia Boettger | Sen | 100h03'51" |
| 3 | Corinne Favre | Sen | 114h40'37" |
Male 2011 :
| # | Runner | Category | Time |
| 1 | Jules-Henri Gabioud | Sen 1 | 79h58'26" |
| 2 | Christophe Le Saux | Sen 2 | 84h09'46" |
| 3 | Pablo Criado Toca | Sen 2 | 89h43'07" |
Female 2011 :
| # | Runner | Category | Time |
| 1 | Annemarie Gross | Vet 1 | 91h28'31" |
| 2 | Patrizia Pensa | Vet 1 | 102h25'42" |
| 3 | Giuliana Arrigoni | Vet 1 | 102h26'05" |
Male 2012 :
| # | Runner | Actual time | Recalculated time |
| 1 | Óscar Pérez | 75h56'31 | 75h56'31" |
| 2 | Grégoire Millet | 78h50'03" | 78h50'03" |
| 3 | Christophe Le Saux | 80h14'14" | 80h14'14" |
Female 2012 :
| # | Runner | Actual time | Recalculated time |
| 1 | Francesca Canepa | 99h13'56" | 85h33'56" |
| 2 | Sonia Glarey | 104h45'54" | 96h59'54" |
| 3 | Patrizia Pensa | 106h00'15" | 97h06'15" |
Male 2013 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Iker Karrera | 1 | 70h04'15" |
| 2 | Óscar Pérez | 2 | 70h29'41" |
| 3 | Franco Collé | 3 | 72h05'23" |
Female 2013 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Francesca Canepa | 15 | 88h12'17" |
| 2 | Nerea Martinez Urruzola | 20 | 91h01'42" |
| 3 | Emanuela Scilla Tonetti | 25 | 94h45'59" |
Male 2014 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Franco Collé | 1 | 71h49'10" |
| 2 | Hollon Nickademus | 2 | 76h29'38" |
| 3 | Guillon Antoine | 3 | 79h02'29" |
Female 2014 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Émilie Lecomte | 9 | 85h53'14" |
| 2 | Lisa Borzani | 22 | 94h43'46" |
| 3 | Denise Zimmermann | 32 | 98h27'16" |
Male 2015 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Patrick Bohard | 1 | 80h20'35" |
| 2 | Gianluca Galeati | 2 | 80h44'34" |
| 3 | Christophe Le Saux | 3 | 81h19'25" |
Female 2015 (last aid station status before race was stopped due to bad weather) :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time | Arrive base |
| 1 | Denise Zimmermann | 9 | 79h12'35" | Ollomont Out |
| 2 | Lisa Borzani | 22 | 80h16'24" | Ollomont Out |
| 3 | Marina Plavan | 32 | 85h55'00" | Ollomont In |
Male 2016 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Oliviero Bosatelli | 1 | 75h10'22" |
| 2 | Óscar Pérez | 2 | 81h14'50" |
| 3 | Pablo Criado Toca | 3 | 83h40'10" |
Female 2016 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Lisa Borzani | 7 | 91h09'44" |
| 2 | Stephanie Case | 14 | 98h15'27" |
| 3 | Maria Semerjian | 19 | 100h18'42" |
Male 2017 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Javier Dominguez-Ledo | 1 | 67h52' |
| 2 | Oliviero Bosatelli | 2 | 69h16' |
| 3 | Andrea Macchi | 3 | 74h51' |
Female 2017 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Lisa Borzani | 11 | 89h40' |
| 2 | Silvia Trigueros-Garrote | 23 | 97h43' |
| 3 | Marina Plavan | 46 | 106h29' |
Male 2018 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Franco Collé | 1 | 74h03' |
| 2 | Galen Reynolds | 2 | 74h40' |
| 3 | Peter Kienzl | 3 | 77h31' |
Female 2018 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Silvia Trigueros-Garrote | 12 | 87h50' |
| 2 | Emanuela-Scilla Tonetti | 25 | 95h54' |
| 2 | Jamie Aarons | 25 | 95h54' |
Male 2019 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Oliviero Bosatelli | 1 | 72h37' |
| 2 | Galen Reynolds | 2 | 77h06' |
| 3 | Danilo Lantermino | 3 | 79h09' |
Female 2019 :
| # | Runner | Time |
| 1 | Silvia Trigueros-Garrote | 85h23' |
| 2 | Jocelyne Pauly | 94h22' |
| 3 | Chiara Boggio | 96h55' |
Male 2021 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Franco Collé | 1 | 66h43' |
| 2 | Jonas Russi | 2 | 69h03' |
| 3 | Petter Restorp | 3 | 76h36’ |
Female 2021 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Silvia Trigueros-Garrote | 13 | 89h57’ |
| 2 | Melissa Paganelli | 16 | 93h35’ |
| 3 | Nicky Spinks | 29 | 101h16’ |
Male 2022 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Jonas Russi | 1 | 70h31' |
| 2 | Simone Corsini | 2 | 75h27’ |
| 3 | Andrea Macchi | 3 | 76h43’ |
Female 2022 :
| # | Runner | Overall place | Time |
| 1 | Sabrina Verjee | 5 | 80h19’ |
| 2 | Silvia Trigueros-Garrote | 10 | 84h58’ |
| 3 | Sandrine Beranger | 17 | 89h40’ |

## Photos

* Indications at Coda refuge.
* Tor des Géants at refuge Victor Sella.
* The Grand Assaly complex seen from Albert Deffeyes refuge.
* The "Fenêtre de Champorcher", after the first 115 km.
* Yang Yuan monument at night