In the ninth installment of his 'L'Envers du Dossard' (behind-the-bib) series, Baptiste Chassagne opens up his third UTMB — the major objective of his season and, as he frames it, the finish line of a two-year project. He finished 2nd in 18:47, behind Ben Dhiman. After 10th in 2023 and 2nd in 2024 behind Vincent Bouillard, he deliberately gave himself two years to build hunger and new skills, entering every race on the calendar that scared him — the World Championships, the Grand Raid de La Réunion, the 90km du Mont-Blanc — specifically to work his weaknesses. He struggled to name a clear goal until a conversation with coach Simon Gosselin unlocked it: 'You want to raise your arms. Given your work, that ambition is now legitimate.' From there his mindset was simple — try to win. The race started badly. At the anthem his motivation drained away and he no longer knew why he was there; ten strides in he broke his pole quiver and had to fight back upstream through the field to recover his poles, the stress lodging straight in his stomach. He even considered dropping at Les Houches. He came to understand that he simply hates the opening segment from Chamonix to Les Contamines — an oppressive waiting room — and only after Saint-Gervais, carried by an incandescent crowd, did he enter his UTMB. Ben Dhiman went clear early and Baptiste never saw him again. He pushed briefly on the Col du Bonhomme to bridge, then backed off and settled into his own rhythm, accepting that the chase was too risky that early and hoping — unlike his three previous 100-milers — not to spend the night alone. Joaquin Lopez joined him at Refuge Bertone (km 86), the same runner he had shared the runner-up spot with in 2024; they collaborated for hours before Baptiste dropped him on the runnable section before Champex. He describes an uncomfortable in-between: no longer able to chase the thing that made him dream, and now chased for something he had already achieved. The transcendence finally arrived at Trient, km 144, when his crew told him the splits were excellent — he had not looked at his watch once all race. Realising Ben was doing something historic, he wanted to be part of it. But confidence turned costly: at Vallorcine he forgot his water flasks and flirted with severe dehydration to La Flégère, then eased off on the final descent thinking Caleb Olson was far behind. Told at the Floria refreshment stand that Olson was under a minute back, he had to sprint the streets of Chamonix instead of savouring them, securing 2nd only in the final corner. His verdict is split between satisfaction at delivering under pressure and the frustration of not having taken the risk of going after Ben even at the cost of blowing up. He credits a 'less but better' training philosophy, the ability to perform on the day, the crowds on the trailside, and staying involved second by second even once he understood — as early as the Col de la Seigne — that the outcome was not in his hands. It was also, he notes, his first UTMB without digestive trouble. Next up, after a long rest, possibly the SaintéLyon from early October.