He who professes “live the adventure”In his book of the same name (Flammarion, 2023), he may have just experienced the best moment of his career. At 36 years old, ultra-trailer Mathieu Blanchard won the Grand Raid of Réunion on Friday, October 18, one of the most legendary events in the discipline. The French athlete was the first to cross the finish line in Saint-Denis-la-Réunion, after 23 hours and 25 minutes of effort on the “Diagonale des fous”, another name for this ultratrail that crosses the island of India. The ocean and its mountains stretch from south to north.
Less than two months before, it is difficult to imagine that the runner based in Deux-Alpes (Isère) would raise his arms on Friday wearing the “official” t-shirt of the Réunion event – the regulations require it – at the end. of 175.3 km and more than 10,000 meters of positive gradient. At the end of August, Mathieu Blanchard had to throw in the towel during the Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), the main race of his sport in which he took the podium twice (3my in 2021 and 2my the following year), victims of severe pain in the Achilles tendon. “I have an injury that has been going on for about three years, it goes up and down: sometimes I don’t have any pain, sometimes I have peaks of pain, that happened to me this year at the ‘UTMB’explained the runner in a press conference prior to the Great Raid. This saved him from discovering the Diagonale des fous, which he completed almost half an hour before his first pursuer, the Swiss Jean-Philippe Tschumi, who accompanied him for a long time.
“Being able to participate in the race and finish it was a great dream, but winning it is unexpected., rejoices Mathieu Blanchard, at the microphone of Reunion La 1ère, his legs still covered in the mud of Reunion after his victory. It is difficult to achieve a good performance on the first participation in a race of this magnitude. »
After having been divided into numerous events in the same season on occasions, the man who lived for almost ten years in Canada had marked the Grand Raid of Réunion on his calendar, with the firm intention of discovering this ultratrail among the most demanding in the world. world. circuit. The event, held at the end of the season, crosses the island’s massifs (such as the Mafate circus) and its endless stairs, and shears the organisms. “ This year I’m putting more heart into the Diagonale. “I want to have a great race and have a good time with the Reunion community”exhibited at the end of August in The teamassuming that he has not made the UTMB his main objective of the year.
Cheeks crossed by the land of Réunion
“As it is my first participation, I want at all costs to finish this race with my bearings, that does not mean that I am going to wander. I will continue to be ultra-competitive…”Mathieu Blanchard had warned on the eve of the race. Because although he knows the trails of Reunion Island well, the Salomon team athlete had never started his most famous race until now. Registered in 2019, when he had not yet broken into the top of the discipline, he returned his number a few days before the test to go and participate in the Koh-Lanta competition, in the Fiji archipelago. Another type of event, which has earned it a certain popularity and, at first, the sidelong glances of some ultra-trailers, not very happy to see a television figure, a fan of social networks, fall into their mountains.
But the Cavaillon (Vaucluse) native’s repeated performances quickly earned him his place among the ultra-trail elite. Second in the UTMB 2022 (in less than 20 hours), behind the Catalan phenomenon Kilian Jornet, the Frenchman – a professional since 2021 – chose last year to drastically change his approach to his sport. Now installed at the Deux-Alpes station (previously against Montreal), he has reduced his long-distance travel and his responses to numerous requests. A paid adaptation, given its performance at the Diagonale des fous 2024.
“This year, performance will not be my priority”However, the French runner warned on the eve of the race. Vaccinated by his failure at the UTMB and his somewhat choppy preparation, he thus intended ” No [se] put too much pressure”. But the very competitive Mathieu Blanchard also confessed “That today, on the eve of the Diagonale des Fous, I have never felt so little pain in my body. » Winner on Friday of one of the four ultratrail monuments (along with the UTMB and the American Hardrock 100 and Western State races), even in the absence of some of the great international competitors, Mathieu Blanchard celebrated as soon as he crossed the finish line. , marking his cheeks with the land of Réunion that he had explored for more than twenty hours. “Just look at my legs and my shoes.he smiled. I had a great adventure. »
