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Engelhard Achieves the Double and Kiriago Back on Top at DÉFI DES COULEURS!

By Kirsty Reade WMRA 12 Οκτ 2026

After yesterday’s uphill race gave us our first taste of Canadian racing, the 2026 WMRA World Cup came to its finale today in Quebec with the classic up-and-down race, marking the first time the World Cup final has taken place outside of Europe. Yesterday we saw Nina Engelhard (GER) dominate the women’s race from start to finish and Meikal Beaudoin Rousseau (USA) come out on top in a very competitive men’s race. Today’s event delivered even more dramatic racing, creating a fitting finale to this year’s competition, where we crowned our 2026 World Cup champions.

The World Cup competition was shaken up by the absence of some of the Kenyan runners due to visa issues. While the men’s leader, Philemon Kiriago (KEN), looked unreachable, the other podium places and the women’s competition were very much up for grabs in this World Cup final.

The classic race of approximately 16km with 1200m of ascent started at the base of Mont-Sainte-Anne, and the runners tackled three climbs and descents. Unlike yesterday’s fairly straightforward uphill-only race, today’s course was much more mixed with more technical terrain, such as the "L’Escarpée" grueling singletrack climb through the woods. Today’s course gave a lot more opportunity for runners to implement their race strategy in uphill or downhill sections that played to their strengths.

THE WOMEN’S RACE

The women set off first, five minutes ahead of the men’s race. As expected Nina Engelhard set out hard and yesterday’s women’s runner-up, Erin Moyer (USA) and current women’s World Cup runner-up going into this race, Joyce Muthoni Njeru (KEN) led the chase. As they started to climb up the big wide track Engelhard started to pull away ominously and she began to open a gap.

The first downhill already began to shake up the positions, with Njeru having a strong run to give herself a buffer in second and Nelie Clement (FRA) had come through the third. Engelhard maintained a strong lead as the top three women hit the climb up “L’Escarpée" towards their first summit of Mont-Sainte-Anne.

Hitting the first summit Engelhard’s lead was over a minute. Njeru continued to chase, followed closely by Clement and then Moyer. The runners then hit a steep down, immediately followed by a steep up, which would take them back up Mont-Sainte-Anne via a much more direct route. This next climb was to prove quite decisive as Engelhard stretched her lead out even further, but Clement overtook Njeru and managed to put a gap of around a minute into her. Engelhard looked like she could not be caught, but the rest of the women’s podium was all going to come down to the very fast final 4km descent.

Engelhard continued to dominate the women’s race and her lead only increased on the downhill. She took a very emphatic win in 1.20.34. Njeru’s downhill skill prevailed and she overtook Clement with 3km to go to take second in 1.23.45, with Clement third just six seconds behind her. Arianna Dentis (ITA) ran a very strong race to come through for fourth, with Moyer fifth.

Nina Engelhard (GER) – 1.20.34
Joyce Muthoni Njeru (KEN) – 1.23.45
Nelie Clement (FRA) – 1.23.51
Arianna Dentis (ITA) – 1.27.09
Erin Moyer (USA) – 1.27.11

THE MEN’S RACE

Setting off five minutes after the women, the passionate Canadian crowd cheered the men off. Phllemon Kiriago (KEN), men’s World Cup leader who had to settle for fourth yesterday, rarely loses a classic race and he led them out, with a group including Remi Leroux (CAN), Mason Coppi (USA), Kieran Nay (USA) and Andrea Elia (ITA).

Kiriago seemed determined to run from the front today and quickly stretched out his lead on the first climb. Leroux managed to stay in contact with him initially and Mason Coppi (USA) worked his way through the pack and the three of them created a gap from the chasing pack.

Kiriago hit the first summit first, with a 22 second lead over Coppi, now in second, and Leroux and Tiziano Moia (ITA) behind him. They then hit the downhill, followed by the very steep second ascent of Mont-Sainte-Anne, which would take them from 480m to 800m in a steep ski slope climb. Kiriago maintained his lead here but it didn’t look insurmountable, as Coppi and Leroux stayed in touch with him, with Moia and Adam Sjolund (USA) not far behind. Other runners coming through the field at this point included Paul Knight (USA), Brayan Rodriguez (MEX) and Edward Hobbs (GBR) and places were changing constantly.

It was all going to come down to the final 4km descent. Eventually Kiriago could not be caught, but Coppi ran him all the way to the line and took second, just 18 seconds behind. Local Leroux was definitely the crowd favourite and took third. Rodriguez came through for fourth and Sjolund was very close behind him for fifth.

Top 5

Philemon Kiriago (KEN) –1.11.24
Mason Coppie (USA) – 1.11.43
Remi Leroux (CAN) – 1.13.21
Brayan Rodriguez (MEX) – 1.15.02
Adam Sjolund (USA) – 1.15.06

THE FINAL WORLD CUP STANDINGS – GITONGA AND KIRIAGO VICTORIOUS

The women’s World Cup final could not have been more exciting. With Ruth Gitonga absent it gave Joyce Muthoni Njeru the opportunity to play catch up and she took full advantage. The women’s title ended up being tied with both athletes on 384 points! As she had more first place finishes Gitonga is declared the winner. Kirsty Skye Dickson, one of the stand-out stars of this year’s women’s World Cup, took the third spot overall with 264 points.

Philemon Kiriago was too far ahead to be caught, and today’s win just cemented his title. He is men’s World Cup champion for the second year in a row with 396 points. Richard Atuya is second with 290 points and Michael Saoli third with 223 points.

Today’s race also decided the classic classification and Gitonga won the women’s competition with 150 points, Njeru was second with 92 and Arianna Dentis third with 84.

In the men’s classic racing Saoli wins with 100 points, Ephantus Njeri and Atuya tie for second with 92.

For full, final World Cup results see https://www.wmra.info/results/wmra-grand-prix-world-cup/

IN MOUNTAIN RUNNING WE TRUST.

Photos copyright: Marcellin Piguet, David Rouge

About the WMRA:

Formed in 1984, the World Mountain Running Association is the global governing body for mountain running and has the goal of promoting mountain running for all ages and abilities.

As well as the World Cup, the WMRA organizes Masters, U18 and area championships and in partnership with the World Athletics, ITRA and IAU to deliver the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, with the last event held in CanfrancPirineos Spain in 2025. The WMRA also maintains the Mountain Running World Ranking, a system of points allocated to athletes based on the results in designated races.