When the second edition of the European Athletics Off-Road Championships gets underway on Friday 31 May, it will be the U20 runners who launch proceedings.
The Annecy-hosted event runs through to 2 June featuring 10 races in trail and mountain disciplines in and around the French Alps across senior men, senior women and U20 classes. It will be covered live on the Eurovision Sport platform and on the European Athletics website.
The Classic Hill mountain races take place at 09:00 (male) and 09:20 (female) on the opening day. The course starts in Semnoz and covers 5.6km and 830 metres of positive altitude difference up to 1393m above sea level, passing by the Chalet de Bénévent before reaching the Forèt Domaniale de Semnoz.
38 male runners from 15 nations and 37 female runners from 13 nations are expected to toe the start lines.
The U20 participants will be also fight for medals for the second time; two days later they will compete in the Up & Down mountain race in and around Annecy.
Athletes doubling up
The course is 9km long and includes 390ms of ascent and 410ms of descent. The number of participants is comparable to that of the Classic Hill mountain events (38 men from 14 countries, 33 women from 13 countries), partly because of the large number of athletes taking part in both events.
Those who won the U20 races in El Paso, La Palma two years ago will not be present again because they are simply too old.
2022’s Classic Hill champion Lukas Ehrle from Germany will be competing in the senior men’s races, as will two-time female champion Ida Waldal from Norway. However, reigning European Up & Down champion Elia Mattio of Italy will be absent.
Two years ago, Great Britain & Northern Ireland came out on top in the junior events with team wins in the Classic Hill and Up & Down (both U20 men’s), while France (Up & Down) and Italy (Classic Hill) were the best teams in the U20 women's.
In El Paso, Great Britain had a strong showing with Eve Whitaker (2nd Up & Down, 6th, Classic Hill), Charlotte Rawstron (3rd, Classic Hill), Georgia Bell, Amelie Lane (9th and 10th, Up & Down), and all will be present again in France.
Aina Scherling from Switzerland (7th, Classic Hill), Anna Hofer from Italy (6th, Up & Down) or Ana Novak from Slovenia (9th, Classic Hill) could also be serious medal contenders. Not to be overlooked is Lili Beck, the Frenchwoman finished fourth in the Youth Chamonix Courmayeur during the 2023 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc week.
The outcome of U20 men's races is more difficult to predict as the top finishers from the last European Off-Road Running Championships will not join the contests in France.
Also, British mountain runners will be making their international debut; the teams will be led by Edward Hobb, who won the trials in the Up & Down, and Angus Wright, who was the best national Great Britain & Northern Ireland competitor in the Classic Hill.
Norway's Aron Rodal Haugen, who won silver in his age group at last year's European Junior Skyrunners Championships and will be competing in both U20 events in Annecy, could also be in contention for a top spot.
Egon Theiner for European Athletics