Pacemaker Kiprop Kimutai devours the Gineste, Alessia Zarbo steals the Marseille-Cassis crown

At the foot of the CEPAC Vélodrome, with sunny spells and 13°C, the elites were off this Sunday morning at the 2026 Marseille-Cassis - AG2R LA MONDIALE. From the first metres, four men broke clear and went through 5 km together in 14:52. Kenyan Gilbert Kipkosgei Kiprotich (26) was the favourite, with his compatriot Kiprop Kimutai (22) as pacemaker. The plan looked written. Except the pacemaker read the contract his own way. With his leader slower than expected, he took over, went through 10 km alone in 31:19 (32 seconds clear of Djibouti's Houssein Sougueh, 49 on Kiprotich), stretched his margin at 15 km (44:51), then swallowed the last five kilometres at 2:45 per km. Arms raised and saluting the crowd over the final 500 metres, the young Kenyan wrapped it up in 58:36. Microphone in hand a few seconds after crossing the line, he left no doubt about the strategy: "I came to win the race."

That time makes him the first man under the hour since Ethiopia's Jemal Mekonnen (59:16 in 2017) and gives him the fifth-best performance in the race's history. Above all, it is a record on the current 20.2 km course, since the benchmark set by his compatriot Edwin Kipyego (57:18 in 2015) came on a route shortened to 19.6 km. The win also comes with a €5,000 bonus. Behind him, Sougueh (1:00:07) missed the sub-hour by 7 seconds. Uganda's Silas Boch (1:00:26) edged Kiprotich (1:00:28) by 2 seconds. The announced leader ends up fourth, 1:52 behind his own pacemaker. Morocco's Said Kaddour (Alès Cévennes Athlétisme Agglo, 1:01:04) and Congo's Alex-Franck Ngouari-Mouissi (A3 Tours, 1:01:17) complete the top 6.

Enzo Couderchet, the Intersport salesman who delivers

First Frenchman home, seventh in 1:01:38 on his first run here, Enzo Couderchet (Dijon Université Club, 29) posts the fourth-best French performance in the race's history. A part-time salesman at Intersport, he watched the Africans disappear up the road. "They really took off like planes. We told ourselves they were showing off and would blow up, but apparently not, because they kept that pace going." What followed taught him that the descent is "physically extremely hard, harder than the climb, honestly." His verdict, no frills: "For a first Marseille-Cassis, it's magic, really, it's just crazy!"

Behind him, Valentin André (Neuilly-Plaisance Sport) is eighth in 1:02:11. Alexis Miellet (Dijon UC), 2024 European 3000 m steeplechase champion, dips under 1:03 (1:02:59, 9th). Quentin Meyleu (Clermont Athlétisme Auvergne) closes the top 10 in 1:03:34. For Louis Gilavert (SCO Sainte-Marguerite), 16th in 1:04:53, the discovery stung. "I'm disappointed, I was hoping for better, but I went out too fast and paid for it later." He promises to come back "to win it one day." Local through and through, Nicolas Navarro (SCO Sainte-Marguerite) made do with what he had to take 17th in 1:04:55. "I'm coming back from injury, I'm not at 100% yet and I knew I couldn't work miracles." He finished with a smile. "Shall we say same time next year for a tenth start?"

Alessia Zarbo, the last-minute guest

In the women's race, everyone expected a showdown between Mélody Julien and Alessia Zarbo, the second-fastest Frenchwoman ever over the half marathon. The showdown happened, just not as planned. Zarbo (Nice Côte d'Azur Athlétisme, 25) took the lead at 5 km (16:54) and never gave it back. She won in 1:09:04 on her first run here, the third-best French performance in the race's history. Her story is worth the detour. "I want to thank Laurent (Manneveau, sporting director of SCO Sainte-Marguerite, the organising club), who asked me at the last moment to run. I was coming back from an injury picked up at the half marathon world championships and I hadn't run for a month." The remedy was the bike. "I rode a lot during that period, which ended up really helping me on the climb!"

It was a French clean sweep. Ophélie Serra-Boxberger (Montbéliard Belfort Athlétisme, 38) was second in 1:09:44, the fourth-best French performance here, with one eye on the Valence Marathon. The tailwind helped her on the climb "but can also be a bit dangerous on the descent." And the pride is there: "French women have taken the upper hand in recent years." Sarah Hasni (Alès Cévennes Athlétisme) completes the podium in 1:11:02, ahead of Manon Coste (Team MY Thermique, 1:11:33) and Mélody Julien (Association Multisports Montredonnaise), fifth in 1:12:08 after finishing 2nd last year (1:07:16). Augustine Emeraux Lombard (Nancy Athlétisme Métropole, 1:14:00), Anne Moulin Vens (Athlétisme Lozère, 1:14:13) and Latifa Mokhtari (Alsace Nord Athlétisme, 1:15:33) follow.

First on the road, and the celebrities

At 8:45 a.m., the handisport field had already set off. Adrien Chollois (Foulées de Saint-Germain-en-Laye) won in 1:39:55, more than 15 minutes clear of Charles Terranova (1:55:03) and Franck Paget (1:58:18). Latifa Taleb was the first woman in 2:05:43. Among the guests, comedian Arnaud Tsamère aimed for 1:27 and finished in 1:27:44, after passing 228 runners on the Gineste (47:00 at 10 km). TV host Ophélie Meunier finished in 1:46:13, ahead of three former stars of the Cercle des nageurs de Marseille: Olympic champion Alain Bernard (1:50:28), Camille Lacourt (2:17:02) and Laure Manaudou (2:20:43), back eight years after her first run here. All three took their time.

In Cassis, everybody won something

Kiprop Kimutai's time (58:36) and Alessia Zarbo's crown made the headlines, but the real story of Marseille-Cassis - AG2R LA MONDIALE was written in the pack. 20,000 fadas on the start line, from 80 countries, aged 17 to 87, 56% of them first-timers and 38% women, with one runner in two from the Bouches-du-Rhône. Everyone received a 250 ml flask for a first edition with no plastic bottles at the aid stations. Arnaud Tsamère passed 228 runners on the Gineste and hit his 1:27 target. Laure Manaudou, seven months after her first marathon, soaked up the Calanques, while an injured Nicolas Navarro never gave an inch and is already setting a date for a tenth start. At the back of the pack, Finishers and Hyundai ran alongside the last finishers, and some are leaving with a bib for 2027. See you there.