Ben Dhiman's race report from the 2026 90km du Mont-Blanc, where he traded the lead with Louison Coiffet and Cristian Minoggio across the Mont Blanc massif in Western States-level heat and finished 2nd, just 40 seconds off the win.
The 2026 90km du Mont-Blanc was a nearly ten-hour duel across the Mont Blanc massif, and Ben Dhiman came within 40 seconds of the win — finishing 2nd in 9:38:02 behind Louison Coiffet's 9:37:22, with Cristian Minoggio 3rd. In this report Ben walks through a race decided by the finest of margins under temperatures he compares to this year's Western States. From the pre-dawn start he climbed patiently to Brévent as the summit of Mont Blanc ran pink with first light. Ten runners were still together after two and a half hours, and Ben moved to the front over La Tête aux Vents to avoid getting trapped on the technical descent, slotting in behind Coiffet and Minoggio. With his legs heavy from a five-week block with no taper, he raced smart rather than hard — pushing only enough watts to stay in contact. At Le Buet his crew tied an ice bandana around his neck, the first time he'd ever used ice in a race. The brutal, 40%-grade climb to the Barrage d'Emosson split the group, Coiffet and Minoggio floating ahead while Ben and Baptiste Chassagne ground their way up. But on the dreaded descent to Châtelard — a section he'd had to walk during recon — Ben found a flow state, glided down without a single slip, and closed back onto the leaders' heels. He took the lead into the 1,200m climb to Croix de Fer, then near Argentière sensed a moment of weakness in Coiffet's stride and pushed, putting two minutes into him over forty minutes. In hindsight, he reflects, that was the moment to attack aggressively rather than smoothly. The race was decided on the final big climb to Montenvers, Signal and Plan de l'Aiguille. As the leaders melted in the heat, Coiffet bridged back up on the technical terrain and went ahead on the last steep pitch with 'the dagger in his teeth.' Ben couldn't follow. He threw everything at the final fifty-switchback descent, dancing around the corners hoping for a sprint finish, but the gap held. Hitting pavement, he saw Coiffet's red bag up the road through a corridor of fans — 'too close, too far.' Ben closes on a note of forward motion rather than regret: 'Nothing comes back. We only go forward. So go forward with folly, and finish strong.'