Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers (UTDC - 100M)
Trail Alsace Grand Est by UTMB (UTDC 158K)
Station du Lac Blanc (Vosges massif) → Obernai (remparts)
Race guide
Updated 1 July 2026
The Ultra-Trail des Chevaliers (UTDC – 100M), raced as Trail Alsace Grand Est by UTMB, is a 158 km point-to-point through the Vosges massif and into the Alsace vineyard country, running from Station du Lac Blanc down to the ramparts of Obernai. With 4805 m of D+ and a high point of just 1173 m, this isn't a high-altitude race — it's a long, rolling grind through forest, ridgeline and vineyard hills where the distance itself, not sheer vertical, is the main opponent. The route strings together well-known Alsace towns — Turckheim, Kaysersberg, Ribeauvillé, Châtenois, Barr, and the Mont Sainte-Odile area — before finishing inside Obernai's old walls, with a generous 33:00 cut-off that still demands real pacing discipline over three-figure kilometres.
The course and terrain
The race starts at Station du Lac Blanc in the Vosges at 1148 m and immediately drops toward the valley towns, reaching Turckheim (15 km, 621 m) and Kaysersberg (25 km, 645 m) in quick succession. From there the course climbs back up to Ribeauvillé (35 km, 1124 m), regaining nearly all the altitude lost in the opening descent — a pattern that repeats across the route rather than one big alpine ascent. With only 1173 m as the high point but 4805 m of accumulated climb over 158 km, the terrain is best understood as a long chain of rolling forest climbs and vineyard-hill descents rather than a mountain race in the alpine sense. The middle of the course is where the real distance is absorbed: from Ribeauvillé at 35 km, runners cover a long, unbroken stretch through to the base vie at Châtenois (95 km, 534 m) — 60 km with no listed checkpoint in between, easily the longest and most demanding section of the race. From Châtenois the route turns toward the finish, passing Barr (120 km, 676 m) and the Niedermunster/Mont Sainte-Odile area (138 km, 587 m) before a final drop into Obernai's ramparts (158 km, 183 m), the lowest point on the whole course.
Where the race is won or lost
The Kaysersberg–Ribeauvillé climb (25–35 km) is the first real test, gaining nearly 500 m after two valley towns have already lulled runners into an easy rhythm — it's the first sign that the course keeps taking back what it gives. But the true crux is the long haul between Ribeauvillé (35 km) and Châtenois (95 km): 60 kilometres with no intermediate checkpoint listed, meaning pacing errors made here won't show up until it's too late to fix them cheaply. This is the stretch that decides whether the second half of the race is manageable or a survival exercise. The closing 40 km, from Châtenois through Barr and the Niedermunster/Mont Sainte-Odile sector into Obernai, is shorter on paper but comes after 95 km and a full base-vie stop have already worn runners down. The Mont Sainte-Odile area at 138 km is the last real terrain feature before the course tips downhill for good into Obernai — how a runner handles that late climb, on tired legs with only 20 km to go, is often what separates a controlled finish from a death march to the ramparts.
Pacing and fuelling the distance
The early section through Turckheim and Kaysersberg feels fast and friendly — short distances between checkpoints, gentle valley running — and that's exactly the trap. Runners who've raced long point-to-point courses like this one consistently report that a patient, almost social opening pace is what funds a strong finish; going deliberately easy through the first 35 km to Ribeauvillé isn't time lost, it's time banked for the 60 km grind to Châtenois that follows. Treat the early checkpoints as settling-in points, not racing points. Châtenois (95 km) is the single most important logistical anchor on the course: it's the designated base vie with a hot meal (plat chaud) and a crew point, and it splits the race almost exactly into a long first two-thirds and a shorter, harder closing third. Use it deliberately — refuel properly, reset mentally, and break the remaining 63 km into manageable chunks (Barr, then Niedermunster/Mont Sainte-Odile, then the finish) rather than thinking about the full remaining distance at once. That kind of staged, 'two more sections and I'm home' approach is what turns a brutal closing 40 km into a controlled one — the discipline is in trusting the plan built during the patient early kilometres, not in fighting for time you didn't need to spend.
Conditions to expect
Because the high point is only 1173 m, this isn't a race defined by altitude or exposed alpine weather — expect forest trail, ridgeline sections and the rolling vineyard terrain typical of the Alsace hills between Ribeauvillé, Barr and Mont Sainte-Odile. The valley towns (Turckheim, Kaysersberg, Châtenois, Obernai) sit low, so daytime heat in these sections can build even without big altitude, while the wooded climbs between them offer more shelter and cooler running. With a 33:00 cut-off for 158 km and 4805 m D+, most runners will be out for at least one full night, likely two depending on pace, so plan lighting, layers for temperature swings between the forested Vosges sections and the open vineyard descents, and pacing that accounts for both daytime valley heat and cooler night hours on the ridges toward the finish.
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Checkpoints & cut-offs
✓ Course data verified against the official source (2026-07-05) · official source
0 km · 1149 m · —
8.7 km · 956 m · Fri 18:40
22.4 km · 425 m · Fri 21:00
39.8 km · 805 m · Sat 02:00
60.1 km · 726 m · Sat 06:00
68.1 km · 191 m · Sat 07:45
80.8 km · 215 m · Sat 11:10
98.4 km · 227 m · Sat 16:30
102.3 km · 436 m · —
111 km · 206 m · Sat 20:10
127.5 km · 515 m · Sun 00:50
135 km · 313 m · Sun 02:50
151.3 km · 192 m · Sun 07:30
158.8 km · 183 m · Sun 09:15
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