Nice Côte d'Azur by UTMB®
Nice Côte d'Azur by UTMB® – Levens - Nice - 50K
Levens → Nice
Race guide
Updated 19 July 2026
The Levens - Nice race at Nice Côte d'Azur by UTMB runs 39 km from the hill town of Levens down to the Mediterranean seafront in Nice, climbing 1349 m along the way with a high point of 848 m. Despite carrying the event's 50K branding, the recorded distance is 39 km, making it the shortest of the point-to-point routes that funnel runners off the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes and into the city. What sets this course apart is that it is run largely at night: the cut-offs run from Friday evening at Levens through to the small hours of Saturday at the Nice finish. From a start at 545 m the route plunges into the valley before climbing back over the Plateau St Michel and dropping to the sea, a rhythm of descent, valley, climb and final descent packed into a single dark push toward the coast.
The Course: Down to the Valley, Up and Over to Nice
The race starts in Levens at 545 m and works across the hillside to Tourette-Levens at 12.6 km (405 m), a gentle net descent to open. From there the route drops hard into the valley, reaching Drap at 19.6 km (89 m) — the low point of the first half and effectively the bottom of the course before the coast. This long descent sets up the one significant climb of the day. From Drap the trail climbs back up to the Plateau St Michel at 28.8 km (392 m), the balcony above Nice shared with the event's other routes, before the final descent to the seafront finish at just 8 m (39 km). Levens is a crew point at the start, and with the finish at Nice the support picture is simple — this is a lean, fast-moving course with little in the way of mid-race crew access, so runners need to be relatively self-sufficient through the valley and the climb.
Where the Race Is Won or Lost: The Drap Climb
The defining effort is the climb out of Drap. After descending some 450 m from Levens down to the valley floor at 89 m, the course reverses and gains roughly 300 m over the 9 km up to the Plateau St Michel at 392 m. It is not a huge climb by ultra standards, but it lands in the middle of the race, in the dark, after a long descent has already loaded the legs — and it is the last barrier between you and the run to the sea. The descents bracket that climb and deserve respect. The drop from Tourette-Levens to Drap is the steepest sustained descent of the course, and the final 10 km from the Plateau St Michel down to the Nice seafront is a fast, near-continuous downhill to sea level. On the dry, rocky trails of the Alpes-Maritimes, at night, these descents are where time is made or lost — and where tired quads can turn a strong run into a survival shuffle.
Pacing and Fuelling to the Cut-Offs
The cut-offs march through the night: Tourette-Levens at Fri 22:00, Drap at Fri 23:45, Plateau St Michel at Sat 02:10 and the Nice finish at Sat 04:15. The schedule is tight and continuous rather than generous, so the plan is to keep moving steadily and avoid long stops — there is no comfortable buffer to reclaim if you drift off pace on the descent to Drap or stall on the climb that follows. With crew access effectively limited to the Levens start and the Nice finish, you should leave the start carrying enough fluid and food to be largely self-supported to the aid provided on course. Fuel deliberately on the long descent to Drap while running is easy, so you reach the base of the Plateau St Michel climb already topped up, then eat on the climb itself. The final descent into Nice is fast and unforgiving of an empty tank, so take your last calories before you crest the Plateau.
Conditions to Expect
The defining condition here is night running. Nearly the entire race unfolds in darkness on the hills behind Nice, so a reliable headtorch, spare batteries and the ability to move confidently on technical, rocky descents by torchlight are essential. The Alpes-Maritimes terrain is dry and stony, and navigating the steep drop to Drap and the final descent to the seafront at night demands more concentration than the modest 848 m high point might suggest. Temperatures on a Côte d'Azur night can swing between cool air on the exposed Plateau St Michel and warmer, humid conditions as you descend toward the coast, so pack layers you can manage on the move and carry the mandatory UTMB kit. The finish on the Nice seafront in the small hours is a low-altitude, coastal setting — plan your clothing for a race that begins in the hills at dusk and ends by the Mediterranean before dawn.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-17) · official source
0 km · 545 m · —
12.6 km · 405 m · Fri 22:00
19.6 km · 89 m · Fri 23:45
28.8 km · 392 m · Sat 02:10
39 km · 8 m · Sat 04:15
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