Hugo Deck and Ruth Croft win the Diagonale des Fous as Tom Evans finishes seventh

Hugo Deck won the Diagonale des Fous on his first attempt, crossing Réunion in 22 hours 54 minutes 19 seconds and finishing at the Stade de La Redoute in Saint-Denis shortly before 21:00 local time on 16 October.

The 26-year-old from France, who runs for adidas Terrex, beat compatriot Robin Juillaguet by 57 minutes 35 seconds, according to the official LiveTrail results. Jérôme Vanderschaeghe of Belgium was third in 24:10:35.

New Zealand’s Ruth Croft, the 2025 UTMB champion, won the women’s race in 27:13:23 and was 11th overall. Britain’s Tom Evans, the 2025 UTMB men’s champion, finished seventh in 26:21:33.

Deck moves on the climb out of Mafate

The 2026 course, about 180 km with 10,200 m of climbing, left Ravine Blanche in Saint-Pierre at 22:00 on 15 October and avoided Cilaos for the first time, passing through Hell-Bourg in Salazie instead.

France’s Vincent Esmiol led from Notre-Dame de la Paix (km 33) through Hell-Bourg and across Mafate, the official checkpoint times show. Deck was second from Hell-Bourg (km 80.7) and took the lead on the long climb from Mafate to the Maïdo (km 123.6), in the midday heat, Réunion La 1ère reported. He led for the last 57 km.

“C’était longtemps une course avec Jean-Philippe Tschumi et Tom Evans,” Deck told Réunion La 1ère: for a long time it was a race with Tschumi and Evans. “Mafate m’a souri, c’est là que j’ai fait mon coup d’éclat.”

Esmiol faded after the Maïdo with stomach and breathing problems, MyTrails reported. He was eighth at La Possession and stopped at La Grande Chaloupe, km 164.3, where the official timing lists him as withdrawn.

Juillaguet, also on his debut, was 13th at Hell-Bourg before working his way up. “À partir d’Hell-Bourg, j’ai vraiment été super bien,” he told Réunion La 1ère. Vanderschaeghe, fifth in 2025, said the podium was “un peu inespéré” (a little unexpected). Réunion’s Judicaël Sautron was fourth in 24:38:40.

Evans recovers to seventh

Evans was third at the Nez de Bœuf (km 45.4) and fourth from Mare à Boue to Roche Plate, according to the official splits. He fell to fifth at the Maïdo and to tenth at Îlet Savannah (km 140.4), then gained three places in the final 40 km to finish seventh, 3 hours 27 minutes behind Deck.

Tschumi, the Swiss runner who had been on the podium three times since 2022, withdrew at the Maïdo. Britain’s Josh Wade, third at the 2025 UTMB, stopped at Îlet Savannah. Both are listed as withdrawn in the official results.

Croft leads from start to finish

Croft was the first woman at every timing point from km 14 to the finish. She arrived at 01:13 on 17 October, 1 hour 13 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Alyssa Clark of the United States (28:26:53). France’s Agathe Bes was third in 29:05:19.

“Je suis juste soulagée d’être à l’arrivée, ça a été une journée très difficile,” Croft told Réunion La 1ère: she was simply relieved to finish after a very hard day. “Mon seul but aujourd’hui a été d’arriver au stade.”

Several contenders did not reach Saint-Denis. Sarah Vieuille, the 2026 TDS winner, and Émilie Maroteaux, the 2021 winner, are both listed as withdrawn. Canada’s Marianne Hogan withdrew two days before the start with a calf injury, Reference Trail reported. Manon Bohard, the 2024 winner, is not listed in the official LiveTrail timing for the race, and Unbroken Review could not confirm why.

Mud, cold and a 23 per cent drop-out rate

According to figures given to Réunion La 1ère by the organisers, 2,767 runners started and 641 abandoned, a rate of 23 per cent, compared with 24 per cent in 2025. One in three withdrawals came at Hell-Bourg. The race director, Franceline Chapelin, blamed technical, very muddy sections and the weather: “il a fait très très froid et il y a eu beaucoup de pluie dans les hauteurs.” Nine injured runners were evacuated by helicopter.

The official results list 2,126 finishers, 216 of them women. The last, Belgium’s Sander Boom, 58, finished in 65:57:33, about three minutes inside the 66-hour limit.