At 10:00 AM Italian time on September 9, 2012 (4:00 PM Beijing time), the third "Tor des Géants" race kicked off. As Ziqi Wang, Gaoqing Han, Jianguo Yang, and Lei Yu stood at the starting line with the Chinese national flag, they represented not only the Tecnica Trail Running Team (China's Tecnica Trail Running squad) but also China itself. After nearly a week of continuous day-and-night racing, apart from Ziqi Wang who had to withdraw due to injury, the other three team members successfully completed the race within the stipulated time frame and achieved surprisingly impressive results. This marked the first time Chinese athletes participated in the Tor des Géants. The champion was French athlete Oscar Perez (No. 552), who finished the race in 75 hours, 56 minutes, and 31 seconds, beating the previous course record by as much as 5 hours.
The Tor des Géants takes place in the northwestern Alpine region of Italy, traversing the four highest peaks in Italy: Mont Blanc (4,807m), Monte Rosa (4,637m), Cervino (4,478m), and Gran Paradiso (4,061m). The course spans 330 kilometers with a total elevation gain of 24,000 meters, crossing 25 mountain passes. The 150-hour cutoff time is part of what makes the Tor des Géants so uniquely challenging and captivating.
In the end, participant No. 800, Ziqi Wang, withdrew due to injury at the 100-kilometer mark. Participant No. 801, Gaoqing Han, finished in 137 hours, 47 minutes, and 11 seconds, placing 327th. Participant No. 802, Jianguo Yang, completed the course in 122 hours, 32 minutes, and 18 seconds, ranking 176th. Participant No. 803, Lei Yu, finished in 114 hours, 57 minutes, and 21 seconds, placing 116th (according to the official website results). They have opened a brand-new chapter for Chinese athletes conquering the famous 330-kilometer ultra-trail race known as the Tor des Géants.
(Note: The first 73 athletes completed the full 330-kilometer race. Later, due to heavy snowfall that left mountain paths covered with up to 20 cm of snow and caused icy conditions, making further progress unsafe, the organizing committee set the new finish line at the 303-kilometer mark.)
