Video summary
The video begins with a retrospective analysis of the speaker's predictions for the major races in Chamonix during UTMB week, specifically focusing on the OCC, CCC, and the ongoing UTMB event. The speaker admits to significant errors regarding the men's OCC race, failing to correctly predict any of the top six finishers; notably, his predicted favorites Rémi Bonnet and Petter Engdahl retired or placed poorly, while Francesco Puppi finished seventh. In contrast, the predictions for the women's OCC were more accurate, with Naomi Lang taking second place and Sara Alonso third, though the speaker missed predicting Lauren Gregory's dramatic last-kilometer victory by three seconds over Lang. Additionally, Alicia Varugo performed better than expected by finishing 13th, while Tove Alexandersson did not finish the race as anticipated.
Moving to the CCC races, the speaker highlights this as their most successful category of predictions, successfully identifying the top four finishers in the women's event where Ingvild Caspersen won, followed by Tony McCann, Miao Yao, and Jennifer Lichter. The men's CCC results were also largely accurate, with Christian Minoggio winning the race after stepping up to longer distances, while Hannes Truell surprised many by securing a podium finish in third place despite not winning as predicted. Although some British entries like Hugh Chatfield retired and others like Adam Peterman underperformed relative to expectations, the overall assessment of the CCC results was positive, with the speaker noting that their forecast for the women's race was particularly strong.
The discussion then shifts to the UTMB race, which is still in progress at the time of the recording, leading the speaker to make a final prediction about the likely winner. Ben Daemon, who finished second last year, appears to be on track to win after taking a substantial lead with an hour remaining in the race, while other predicted contenders like Josh Wade and Jon Albon have already dropped out. The women's UTMB predictions proved much more difficult due to a series of withdrawals; Ruth Croft pulled out before the start citing family issues, Henriette Albon withdrew after contracting food poisoning, and Courtney Dauwalter exited early in the race. Consequently, Rachel Ann Breckon is currently leading among the speaker's remaining predictions, sitting in second place with hopes of securing her first-ever podium finish at UTMB.
In conclusion, the video wraps up by acknowledging that while the predictions for the OCC and CCC were largely successful, especially in the women's categories, the UTMB results have been less favorable due to multiple unexpected retirements among the predicted favorites. The speaker expresses hope that Rachel Ann Breckon can maintain her position to reach the podium and potentially win if the race continues as expected. The video ends with a call to action for viewers to subscribe to the channel and watch a related documentary about Tom Evans winning last year's UTMB, inviting the audience to share their own predictions and thoughts on how well the actual results matched the forecasts made earlier in the week.
Read the full video transcript
A few days ago, I made some predictions
about who would win the OCC, the CCC,
and the UTMB races here in the beautiful
Chamonix during UTMB week this year. So,
let's find out what I got right and what
I got completely wrong.
Now, as I'm recording this video, UTMB
itself, the big 110-mile race, is still
ongoing. It hasn't finished yet. The
winner is due in in about 1 hour from
now. But, I think we can make a fairly
decent prediction about what I got right
and what I got wrong. That said, let's
start with OCC this year. Now, I
predicted Rémi Bonnet and Francesco
Puppi were going to be right up there at
the front. Rémi Bonnet actually retired
from the race. Francesco Puppi did get
seventh place. We also talked about
Petter Engdahl and Robbie Simpson. So,
Robbie Simpson did very well. He came
eighth. Petter Engdahl, unfortunately,
came 111th.
I didn't get any of the top six
correctly predicted for the men's race
at OCC this year. In terms of the women,
my top prediction was Tove
Alexandersson. Now, I looked on the
results. I couldn't find her anywhere. I
think she was just a DNS. Her name
doesn't appear anywhere on the finishing
list at all. And I can't see her as
being retired or withdrawn. So, I think
she must just have been a DNS. However,
I did get second place and third place.
So, Naomi Lang we talked about in the
prediction video from the UK. She came
second in an absolutely thrilling race,
actually. And Sara Alonso came third.
Well done to Lauren Gregory, who
absolutely smashed it in the last
kilometer and in a really exciting
finish to the women's OCC, just passed
Naomi Lang in the last kilometer and
beat her by 3 seconds to the finish
line. So, I didn't predict Lauren
Gregory at all. Now, my friend Holly
Page was a DNS unfortunately, but Alicia
Varugo who we predicted might do quite
well, she came 13th. So, well done to
Alicia Varugo. Great to see her back
racing.
I think my most successful prediction of
the week has been for the women's CCC
race. We managed to get the top four in
the prediction video. So, Ingvild
Caspersen we talked about, she won the
race. Fantastic result for her. Tony
McCann came second. Miao Yao came third
and Jennifer Lichter came fourth. I
think we did say that it would be a Miao
Yao Jennifer Lichter fight out for first
and second. Didn't quite get that right,
but I think mostly we can say we did
pretty well [music]
with that prediction. Gemma Hilliary
Moses for the UK, we thought she might
be up there and she came in in 12th. And
after her rather strange result at UTMB
last year, Emily Hawgood managed to get
15th. We did talk about her in the
prediction video as well. So, well done
to all the ladies in CCC. We also didn't
do too badly with the men at CCC.
Although Ben Rubiol who I said would be
right up there, he retired. We did
manage to predict the winner. Christian
Minoggio came second at OCC behind Jim
Walmsley last year. Steps it up this
year. He's gone a longer distance and
he's got one better in his result. He
won CCC this year. So, well done
Christian Minoggio from Italy. Now, I
did actually predict that Hannes Truell
might surprise everyone and win CCC. He
didn't win, but he did very well. He got
on the podium, came third. So, well done
to Hannes Truell. You might know him as
the bread man if you've seen the
documentary. Really like Hannes, he's
great. Uh Jones came sixth, so we did
talk about him. Unfortunately, uh
British entry Hugh Chatfield, he
retired. Um and Adam Peterman didn't do
all that well, he came 46th. I think he
would have been hoping to do a little
better than that. Uh so, that's the men
and the women in CCC.
So, let's move on to UTMB, which hasn't
actually finished yet. But, I'm going to
make a prediction. Ben Daemon, who came
second last year, uh we predicted he
might do a little better or possibly
might do a little better this year, and
looks like he's going to. He is in the
lead, uh quite a way in the lead with uh
an hour to go. He's going to be uh
hitting La Flégère, the top of the
mountain, somewhere over there, um in
about half an hour, and then it'll be
another half an hour or so down the hill
to the finish. Ben Daemon is going to
win UTMB this year. Unfortunately, my
other
um predictions, most of them retired
from the race. Josh Wade dropped out, uh
Jon Albon, both the UK entries, dropped
out. Um previous winner Vincent Bouliard
from France, we thought he might do
really well. He was actually crewed by
Jim Walmsley this year. Um he retired as
well. The only other prediction that I
made [music] was Caleb Olson. I thought
Caleb Olson might actually win UTMB this
year, but he hasn't very well at the
moment. He's in fourth place. Hopefully,
he'll manage to hold on to that fourth
place.
Unfortunately, we didn't do very well at
all in the [music] women's race. Uh Ruth
Croft, who I predicted would win this
year after winning last year, she
actually pulled out before the start of
the race. She said her head wasn't
really in it. I know she's been having
some family problems. Uh so, Ruth
[music] Croft didn't start.
Henriette Albon, also I was hoping to
make a full documentary about Henriette.
Unfortunately, she emailed me a few days
ago saying she had food poisoning, she
might not start, and then she did in
fact pull out before the start of the
race. So, Henriette didn't start. And
then Courtney Dauwalter, who I thought
might jump on the chance that Ruth Croft
wasn't running, I thought Courtney would
win,
but unfortunately, she pulled out quite
early on in the race as well. So,
Courtney out, Henriette Albon out, Ruth
Croft out. The only prediction that we
made
was Rachel Ann Breckon, who won Cocodona
250, beat all the men as well, overall
winner.
I wondered how well she might do,
wondered if she'd be able to keep up
speed,
and keep to the front of the pack. Looks
like she has done. She is in second
place currently. Hopefully, she'll be
able to keep that second place, get on
the podium for UTMB for the first time.
That would be amazing. What a year it
would be for Rachel if she wins the
Cocodona 250, and then comes second at
UTMB. That would be fantastic. [music]
So, that was my predictions and the
actual results for the UTMB week, OCC,
CCC, and UTMB. What were your
predictions like? Who did you think
would do well? And how pleased are you
for those people who have done well at
UTMB week this week? Thank you very much
for watching. I hope you didn't find my
predictions too way off. I think they
weren't too bad, were they? If you'd
like to watch my video about Tom [music]
Evans winning last year's UTMB, my
documentary is right here. I'd really
appreciate if you go and watch that.
Thank you very much for watching all the
way to the end. Don't forget to
subscribe to the channel if you haven't
done so already, and I'll see you guys
on the start line next time.