F45-49 at UTMB Ultra Trail: Borzani leads wire-to-wire for a commanding win

• Lisa Borzani won the F45-49 field in 25:22:11 (16:54/mi), finishing 7th among all women — the only finisher in this group to crack the top 10 women's standings.
• Eva Maria Sperger claimed 2nd in 25:35:10, just 12:59 behind Borzani — and posted the 4th-fastest women's split on the Les Houches→Finish leg, a closing surge that defined her race.
• The gap from 2nd to 3rd was enormous: Valentina Michielli finished in 31:19:00, nearly six hours back of Sperger.
• 15 finishers completed this 145 km, 9,500 m+ course through the Beaufortain region — a field spread across nearly 19 hours from first to last.

Lisa Borzani didn't just win F45-49 — she ran a race that held up across the entire women's field. Starting in 7th among women, she slipped back to 19th through the early checkpoints before steadily clawing her way forward, returning to 7th by the halfway point and holding that position all the way to Chamonix. At a pace of 16:54/mi across 145 kilometers — on a night start out of Courmayeur into terrain that climbs to nearly 8,500 feet — that kind of sustained forward momentum is its own story. She also posted the 6th-fastest women's split on the Hauteluce→Barrage de la Girotte segment, one of the race's more demanding stretches.

Eva Maria Sperger ran a different kind of race: a patient, relentless climb through the women's field. She began 22nd among women and moved steadily — 19th, 14th, 11th, 9th, 8th — finishing there. Her best moment came late: the 4th-fastest women's split on the Les Houches→Finish leg, meaning she was still accelerating when many others were simply surviving. The 12:59 gap to Borzani reflects a genuine margin, but Sperger's closing speed made her the race's most compelling mover in this group.

Valentina Michielli took 3rd in 31:19:00 (20:51/mi), finishing 19th among all women and recording the 12th-fastest women's split on the Beaufort entrée→Beaufort sortie segment. Behind her, the field spread wide: Magali le Gall (4th, 37:16:25) and Chiara Tallia (5th, 37:58:02) were separated by under 42 minutes, while Nathalie Davidson (6th, 38:15:04), Sally McRae (7th, 39:10:13), and Katrien Seghers (8th, 39:54:00) filled out a competitive mid-pack. Aurelie Marragou closed out the field in 15th at 44:39:44 — still finishing one of the most technical races of UTMB week.