World gold medallists Stian Angermund of Norway, Tove Alexandersson of Sweden and France's Clementine Geoffray are among the medal favourites in the men’s and women’s trail races at this weekend's Ljublana-Kamnik 2026 European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships.
All ten races from Ljubljana-Kamnik will be streamed live on the European Athletics YouTube channel on 5-7 June, with the trail races taking place on Saturday (6) with English commentary.
Both men and women will start at 9:00 local time and features an excellent line-up of seasoned international competitors.
Starting from Kamnik’s main square, the athletes head north on a 52.7km loop with a total elevation gain of 2,450 metres. After six relatively flat kilometres, the first steep uphill section stretches out over five and a half kilometres with a gradient of more than 11% almost throughout, reaching as high as 21% in the steepest sections.
In the men’s race, 104 athletes from 30 nations will take part, whilst the women’s race features 91 athletes from 28 nations.
In brief
- Women’s reigning champion Clementine Geoffray of France challenges world champion Tove Alexandersson of Sweden
- Stian Angermund of Norway the man to beat in men’s race
- All men’s medalists from Annecy 2024 missing from Kamnik
Five men to watch
- Stian Angermund (NOR)
- Frédéric Tranchand (FRA)
- Cristian Minoggio (ITA)
- Daniel Pattis (ITA)
- Juho Ylinen (FIN)
At the 2024 event in Annecy, the trail races saw France dominate. The host nation swept the podium in both the women’s and men’s events. However, even before the starting gun has fired this year, one thing is clear: the men’s podium will look completely different.
The top three from 2024 – Thomas Cardin, Benjamin Roubiol and Loïc Rolland – are not on the final entry list. The favourite this year is Norway’s Stian Angermund, who won gold in the Short Trail at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in 2021 and 2023.
France is sending Frédéric Tranchand onto the Slovenian trails as its most promising challenger. Tranchand, who has a background in orienteering, won the Short Trail at last year’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships title in Canfranc, Spain.
They will be joined in the battle for the medals by two Italians. One is Cristian Minoggio, a veteran who has already won two major trail events in his home country this year. The other is Daniel Pattis, who arrives in Slovenia brimming with confidence following his second place at Zegama and victory at the IATF in Innsbruck.
Five women to watch
- Tove Alexandersson (SWE)
- Clementine Geoffray (FRA)
- Audrey Tanguy (FRA)
- Adeline Martin (FRA)
- Judith Wyder (SUI)
The women’s field is also packed with top-class athletes. Defending champion Clémentine Geoffray, who was also the 2023 world champion, will compete against the reigning Short Trail world champion, Tove Alexandersson from Sweden.
The 33-year-old delivered an outstanding performance in Canfranc last year, completing the 45km course 34 minutes ahead of Spain's Sara Alonso in second place.
But watch out for France’s Adeline Martin, who won European bronze in Annecy 2024, who will also be competing in Kamnik.
She has already shown her potential this year, achieving fourth place at the Trail du Ventoux, which covered a similar distance to that in Kamnik.
Completing the circle of favourites are her compatriot Audrey Tanguy, and the Swiss runners Judith Wyder and Maude Mathys.
There is also great anticipation surrounding the performance of Austrian runner Anna Plattner, who finished fourth in the world last year in Canfranc.
