UTMB: Para-athlete Julien Veysseyre becomes the first tibial amputee to complete the race

From our special correspondent in Chamonix,

Slumped on the steps of the famous Place du Triangle de l'Amitié in Chamonix, his face in a state of extreme fatigue, starting with his eyes almost closed, Julien Veysseyre is just recovering from a sequence of excitement of rare power for a UTMB Sunday. More than 24 hours after thrilling to the arrivals of Ben Dhiman and Baptiste Chassagne, the Haute-Savoie public celebrated with almost the same intensity the 1,475th of this 23rd edition of the largest in the world.

The reason? With his left leg prosthesis, due to a work accident at the age of 18, the Clermont para-athlete offered us a historical sequence whose power of inspiration is still hard to measure. In any case, it was impossible not to be overcome by emotion on Sunday afternoon, seeing Julien Veysseyre cross the line alongside his two children.

“No feelings” from the start of the race

“I'm having trouble realizing it, especially since I didn't expect such fervor at the finish line,” the person confides to 20 Minutes. It’s a huge relief because it’s the price of a lot of sacrifice and work for more than two years. » While he had planned a comfortable time around 40 hours, the rather serene finisher of the CCC in August 2025 (101 km in 21h56) had to work harder than ever to complete the adventure of 170 km and 9,700 m of D +), and therefore well deserved his champagne... served directly in his prosthesis!

“From the start of the race, I had no feeling, my legs were heavy,” he remembers after becoming the first tibial amputee to complete a UTMB (in 44h16). The situation seriously worsened in the first half of this ultra, between a “very painful” left foot and major discomfort with his prosthesis on his right leg.

“From you to me, I think I turn on the flasher”

This is why Courmayeur (km 81) has once again justified its “refueling of the scale” dimension with Julien Veysseyre. Plagued by a lack of lucidity, after having already spent a night outside, the athlete Salomon does not remember having mentioned his temptation to abandon himself to his guide Alice Denuc. “On the descent towards Courmayeur, he said to me, 'between you and me, I think I'll turn on the indicator'”.

“In my head, I couldn’t get out of this negative spiral,” notes Julien Veysseyre (39) afterwards. I ruminated on my pain and I couldn't see myself finishing the race. The only thing I did to try to think positively was force myself to smile. » And his good humor returned less than an hour after this famous refreshment, thanks to his third guide on this UTMB, his friend Dorian, whom he sees as “a clown”.

The support of his children was extremely precious

“With anti-inflammatory creams, my team managed to contain my levator pedis problem, and a new socket relieved my painful area at the prosthesis,” specifies the para cross-triathlon world champion in 2023. The support of his sons Léo (8 years old) and Swann (5 years old), present in Courmayeur, also had a crucial role. “In any case, abandonment was unimaginable,” says Alice Denuc firmly.

This scenario will never take shape again in the following 90 km, until this arrival rich in symbolism for Team Adaptive, launched two years ago by the UTMB. With a lump in her throat, Alice Denuc concludes: “He’s the first to succeed, I have the impression that he’s the first man to walk on the moon.” And to win it in the process, with great determination.