The 2023 Diagonale des Fous, or “Diagonal of Fools,” kicked off at 9 p.m. native time in Saint Pierre, at the south coast of Réunion Island, a French division within the Indian Ocean, on Thursday, October 19.
The original 165-kilometer (102 miles) traverse, the longest race within the weekend-long Grand Raid Réunion pageant, starts at the south aspect of the island with a partial ascent of energetic volcano, Piton de Los angeles Fournaise, and follows a impressive path thru UNESCO Global Heritage Websites and the lands of Réunion Nationwide Park to complete at the north coast within the capital town of Saint-Denis. The race takes in more or less 10,000 meters (32,800 toes) of hiking and as a lot descending, on brutally technical terrain, and is observed as one of the vital tough 100 milers at the international race calendar.
This 12 months’s race had a promising line-up, together with UTMB’s 2022 winner, Katie Schide, and 2023 third-place guy Germain Grangier. Fanatics had been additionally extremely joyful with a shocking past due addition — four-time Diagonale des Fous winner François D’Haene, who has been absent from the scene for a time because of damage and was once noticed on the place to begin carrying a hand-written bib.
Whilst ladies’s favourite Schide didn’t disappoint, with a commanding win over sturdy competitors together with France’s Camille Bruyas; it was once 2023 Hardrock 100 champion Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz who got here out on most sensible within the males’s race, with a an identical runaway victory to what we noticed from him at Hardrock.
Learn on to look how each those races performed out.
2023 Diagonale des Fous Girls’s Race
Katie Schide has had two top profile second-place finishes this season — on the Western States 100, the place the American residing in France completed in the second one quickest ladies’s time ever at the historical path, and at OCC, the place she demonstrated her versatility via stepping down a distance and nonetheless competing on the best possible degree. At Diagonale des Fous, it was once transparent from the beginning that she could be arduous to overcome — main from the get-go, and at all times with a at ease hole on 2022 Les Templiers winner, Camille Bruyas, of France, in moment.
Schide took it out arduous from the primary climb, and via Notre Dame De Los angeles Paix at 28k, already had an 18-minute lead on Bruyas. She won much more flooring on the second one leg of the climb as much as the race’s top level, Croisée Coteaux Kerveguen at 63.5k, the place she crowned out 29 mins forward of her chaser. Previous the 100k level at Ilet À Bourse, she had stretched her lead additional to an hour and 12 mins, at this level taking a look inconceivable to catch.
Whilst Schide was once out on her personal for just about the whole lot of the race, so too was once Bruyas, who at all times had a large hole on the remainder of the sphere and not gave the look to be at risk. Summiting Croisée Coteaux Kerveguen at 63.5k, she was once 23 mins transparent of Réunion Island’s personal Emilie Maroteaux in 0.33. It was once a more in-depth fight for 0.33 place, with Germany’s Eva-Maria Sperger following scorching on Maroteaux’s heels, simply two mins at the back of at that time.
Schide persevered her excursion de power for the remainder 60k or so of the race — which had fewer large climbs, however lined ankle-breaking volcanic terrain — and in the end completed in 27:31:08, an hour and 26 mins transparent of Bruyas in moment. Bruyas completed with a fair larger lead on Maroteaux in 0.33. After some shut operating and buying and selling of puts with Sperger previous within the race, Maroteaux controlled to drag away, securing the overall podium place and the primary native house within the ladies’s race with some other large margin.
Katie Schide, the 2023 Diagonale des Fous champion. Picture: CANAL GRAND RAID
2023 Diagonale des Fous Girls’s Effects
- Katie Schide (U.S., lives in France) ─ 27:31:08
- Camille Bruyas (France) ─ 28:57:48
- Emilie Maroteaux (Réunion Island) ─ 30:38:02
- Eva-Maria Sperger (Germany) ─ 32:41:36
- Laure De Jacquelot (France) ─ 33:16:12
- Marcelle Vienne (Réunion Island) ─ 33:22:01
- Geraldine Prost (France) ─ 33:45:33
- Julia Harnie (France) ─ 34:42:23
- Sylvaine Cussot (Réunion Island) ─ 35:12:48
- Pauline Winer (Réunion Island) ─ 35:15:07
2023 Diagonale des Fous Males’s Race
Early on in his profession, in 2012, Frenchman Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz ran the 73k race at Grand Raid Réunion, hanging fourth. Used to be a seed planted then to return again ultimately and take at the 100-mile win? Who is aware of, however he began this race like any individual on a venture. By way of Notre Dame De Los angeles Paix — 28k into the race with simply over 1,600 meters climbed — he was once simply over a minute forward of then second-place, France’s Germain Grangier, however was once now not giving up his marginal lead. Attaining Coteaux Kerveguen at 61k — simply prior to cresting the race’s top level at more or less 2,500 meters — Dunand-Pallaz had pulled 12 mins transparent of the remainder of the sphere, along with his countryman Lambert Santelli then following in moment.
Remaining 12 months’s second-place guy, Switzerland’s Jean-Philippe Tschumi — after shifting round within the most sensible 10 for the primary part of the race — crept up the sphere to moment position after 85k. He got here shut sufficient to make Dunand-Pallaz sweat, operating simply 3 mins again of the chief across the 100k mark.
Tschumi held directly to moment for a very long time, however Dunand-Pallaz reasserted his dominance, and had pulled greater than a part hour transparent of his chaser via Deux Bras at 128k, with lots of the hiking finished.
It was once right here too that Grangier made a transfer into moment place. Like Tschumi, Grangier were shifting across the most sensible 10 for the race’s first part, prior to settling into 0.33 place from 92k onward. It was once at the second-to-last climb as much as Dos D’ane the place he in spite of everything were given forward of Tschumi.
Dunand-Pallaz persevered to energy forward, in the end completing in 23 hours and 21 mins, 39 mins transparent of Grangier in moment. Tschumi adopted in 24:28 for 0.33, with Grangier having put important time on him within the race’s last phase.
Grand Raid legend, Frenchman François D’Haene would possibly or might not be again to complete race health. He was once in brief in podium place across the midway level however fell again slightly to in the end end in 8th position. Mid-race, his social media channels indicated that he was once affected by leg cramps. We are hoping that is just the beginning of his comeback.
Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz celebrates successful the 2023 Diagonale des Fous. Picture: CANAL GRAND RAID
2023 Diagonale des Fous Males’s Effects
- Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz (France) ─ 23:21:23
- Germain Grangier (France) ─ 24:00:54
- Jean-Philippe Tschumi (Switzerland) ─ 24:28:36
- Lambert Santelli (France) ─ 25:44:49
- Rémi Berchet (France) ─ 25:48:14
- Fabrice Payet (Réunion Island) ─ 25:48:44
- Alexis Sévennec (France) – 26:01:02
- François D’Haene (France) ─ 26:12:41
- Cédric Chavet (France) ─ 26:53:17
- Alexandre Boucheix (France) ─ 27:01:22
