Patrick Bohard wins the Tor des Géants 2015

The French athlete was among the protagonists of Tor 2013, when he finished the race in 5th place with a time of 78 hours 47 minutes after race start he himself defined as "a catastrophe". This year he run with more attention to his food intake and with a strategy that entailed being more cautious in the first part of the race before give it all in the second part. This is more or less what happened during this year's Tor, even if, of course, the bad weather changed his plans a bit.

Patrick had been in the Aosta Valley in July to train on the paths between Courmayeur and Donnas, and in August to study the section between Donnas and Courmayeur. "I came mostly to get used to the altitude; in Jura, where I live, peaks are no higher than 1700m. Tor des Géants, on the other hand, is 100% mountain." Bohard trained all year round in the Jura, beginning with cross-country ski of 272 km in 22 hours.

This French athlete, who makes his living as a Hotel Manager and who started running as late as 2008 (proving that you don't need to start at an early age to achieve great results) reached the finishing line tired but happy. Not a man of many words, at the Finish he stayed true to himself, but his excitement and thanks to the entire Aosta Valley which had supported him throughout the race was clearly visible.

Second place went to Gianluca Galeati, the 1983 born member of Team Tecnica from San Pietro Terme (Bologna) Galeati started running 7 years ago, quickly moving from road racing to trail running. In the big international races, such as 2013 Utmb, he was always one of the first Italians and at last year's Tor he placed 7th. This year he improved significantly and arrived a mere 24 minutes after the winner. While at first glance this may seem like a lot, in a 330 km race it is actually very little indeed.

Galeati makes his living as a quality controller and here, in Valle d'Aosta, he demonstrated all his own qualities. He dedicated his victory to his daughter, due shortly, and thanked the organization and volunteers who had helped make his dream come true in extremely harsh conditions. He was welcomed by his partner and by last year's winner Franco Collè, who seemed even more excited than his race "colleague" .

Third place went to another Frenchman, Christophe Le Saux, who arrived to huge cheers after 81 hours and 19 minutes. The French runner is almost at home in these mountains: he trains on this paths, has taken part many races around Mont Blanc and has been on Tor podium 4 times in total.

The three athletes can finally rest now, but the road for all the other giants is still long!