Italian Marco Gubert leads the race after 170 kilometres

Only 9 athletes dropped out in the first 24 hours

Although the rain affected several of the participants in the southern part of the island during the night of Wednesday, the good temperatures have accompanied the runners during the course of the first day of the 360º The Challenge Gran Canaria.

In the first 24 hours there have only been nine dropouts out of the 95 athletes who took the start. After passing the third basecamp in Santa Lucía, Marco Gubert leads the race after 28 hours and 15 minutes with 170 kilometres under his belt. The chasing trio from the first day has separated, and is closely followed by the Frenchman Julien Chorier alone at one hour and 13 minutes behind.

In addition to the leading pair, six other runners are the only ones to reach the third base camp of the race at this time: the winner of the 2023 edition, Claudiu Beletoiu, and the Gran Canarians Javier Blanco, Álvaro Santana and Cristian Guerra, who are within a 10-minute gap between the three.

In the women’s category, of the six athletes who took the start, only the Swedish runner Radana Thorell retired from the race after 33.8 kilometres. As for the head of the race, the top favourite Claire Bannwarth continues to lead with ease after 145 kilometres travelled, just 9 kilometres away from the Santa Lucía basecamp, where she will be able to receive external assistance again and regain strength for the second half of the race. Teldense Sandra Moreno is five hours behind the leader, while the British Claire Ferguson is still in third position fighting for a step on the podium.