UTMB 2019: Stian Angermund-Vik wins OCC, overtaking Chinese Tao Luo at 35km and holding lead
- Tao Luo speeds into the lead but cannot sustain the pace and slips back into third as the leading pair finish within minutes of each other
Stian Angermund-Vik won the 55km Orsières, Champex, Chamonix (OCC) at the Ultra Marathon du Mont Blanc (UTMB) race week. The Norwegian runner overtook Tao Luo of China as they exited a checkpoint at the same time, at 35km, and he never relinquished the lead after. Angermund-Vik had energy to spare, and cartwheeled over the finish line.
Luo flew out of the blocks on the start line, opening a huge lead early. The Chinese runner seemed to suffer from the pace later on as he dropped to third when Andreu Simon Aymerich of Spain moved into the second place.
The Spaniard pushed Angermund-Vik. He was barely more than a minute behind the leader at 50km, but could not do enough to overtake his opponent.
Angermund-Vik finished in five hours, 19 minutes and 24 seconds. Aynmerich crossed the line in 5:20:46. Luo came third in 5:25:24.
The OCC is the shortest of the main races at the UTMB. It is one of seven races over the course of the running festival, which concludes with the full 171km UTMB itself.