Hugo Deck owns the 2026 MaXi-Race 100K
Last weekend, around Lake Annecy, the 15th edition of the adidas TERREX MaXi-Race delivered its verdict on the headline event, the Tour du Lac 100K — actually 105 kilometers with more than 5,500 meters of vertical gain. After a tense day of racing, it was Hugo Deck, 26, who crossed the line first in 9 hours 48 minutes 14 seconds, doubling up on his 2025 win.
What's more impressive: Deck improved on his own time despite a reversed course, used for the first time in the race's history and technically harder on the second half. With just months to go before the summer's biggest international showdowns, the message is unambiguous — the young Alsatian is now a fixture at the top of French ultra-trail.
A race controlled from start to finish
On paper, the 2026 edition promised a top-tier duel. One of the deepest fields in the event's history featured Théo Detienne, Yannick Noël, Pau Capell and several international names. The race delivered through the first half, with a tight lead group, before Deck pushed the decisive surge on the technical climbs of the back half.
"I knew the second half would be a trap with the reversed course. I kept something in reserve early on and pressed when I felt the moment was right." — Hugo Deck, post-race.
Men's 100K podium:
| Place | Runner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugo Deck | 9:48:14 |
| 2 | Théo Detienne | — |
| 3 | Yannick Noël | — |
In the women's race, Toni McCann dominated, confirming the grip Adidas TERREX and The North Face hold on the event.
Who is Hugo Deck?
From basketball courts to alpine ridges
Born in Strasbourg, Hugo Deck grew up between Alsace and the south of France, where he gladly calls himself "a kid from the South." Before trail, he spent ten years on basketball courts at regional level. A team sport that forged his competitor's mindset and his read of the game — qualities he'd later carry over to managing a long race.
It was in 2016, nudged by his older brother who raced triathlon, that he first laced up trail shoes. The spark was instant: in the mountains, he discovered a playground where sustained effort, strategy and solitude all converge. A few years later he joined adidas TERREX, alongside Ruth Croft, Petter Engdahl, Tom Evans, Abby Hall and Pablo Villa.
A résumé that's growing fast
At just 26, Hugo Deck already has results that place him in the global top tier of ultra specialists:
- Ultra-Trail Cape Town 2024 — winner of one of the southern hemisphere's most prestigious races.
- MaXi-Race 2025 — first win on the Annecy 100K.
- K42 Trailmarathon Innsbruck 2026 — winner in early May at the technical Alpine Trailrun Festival.
- MaXi-Race 2026 — back-to-back 100K win in 9:48:14.
The Adidas TERREX runner's athletic profile combines an ultra-distance aerobic engine, outstanding efficiency on technical descents, and the mental management of a former team-sport athlete. A rare combination at his age.
Based in Geneva, shaped by the Alps
Now living in Geneva, Hugo Deck has an ideal training ground at his door: Salève, Jura, Mont-Blanc, Lake Annecy an hour away. In peak weeks he stacks 130 to 160 km of running, with a serious chunk of vertical (weekly gain up to 5,000 meters in training blocks). For the physiology that underpins this kind of workload, see our piece on understanding mitochondria, the runner's powerhouses.
What his win says about French trail
A new generation takes over
Hugo Deck belongs to a wave of runners born in the mid-1990s who grew up with mainstream trail (UTMB, Skyrunner World Series) and approach ultra much more methodically than the previous generation. For them, science-based training, fine-tuned nutrition and dedicated strength work aren't optional add-ons anymore.
A win at 26 on a 100K / 5,500 m vert under 10 hours would have been a fantasy fifteen years ago. Today, it's the benchmark for France's young specialists.
A clean, repeatable preparation
Where some champions cultivate mystery, Deck owns a methodical and transparent approach: controlled volume, easy aerobic pace respected, key sessions repeated, race-specific long runs during pre-season blocks. On that front, his philosophy lines up with practitioners like Joseph Mestrallet and data-driven trail performance, and the foundations laid out in our complete trail running guide.
Work hard, but more importantly work right. Move past "more is better" and into "specific is better": that's the throughline of his method.
What's next? Eyes on summer 2026
After the MaXi-Race double and the Innsbruck win, Hugo Deck enters the summer with serious momentum. Three races are on observers' radar:
- Marathon du Mont-Blanc (late June) — fast, technical playground, ideal ultra prep.
- UTMB / TDS / OCC (late August) — the year's main objective, where the field goes global. See our deep dive on UTMB, the world summit of trail running.
- Skyrunner World Series — depending on the final calendar, a European stop is possible.
The challenge from here is to convert at the international level. On MaXi-Race, he wins two years in a row against a stacked field. The next step is the 170 km / 10,000 m vert of UTMB, where the duration doubles and specialists like Kilian Jornet, Vincent Bouillard or Tom Evans give nothing for free.
What amateur runners can take away
Hugo Deck is elite, but his 2026 win delivers lessons for everyone:
- Tactical patience: he ran the first 50 km in management mode, never giving in to the temptation of an early attack. A strategy that pays off on ultra. Read our piece on recovery after a marathon to understand why regularity in training load matters.
- Technical versatility: he won on a reversed, unfamiliar course. That requires fast terrain reading, which is trainable (regular technical downhills, rolling fartlek).
- Easy-pace dominance: easy volume (zones 1-2) still makes up the bulk of his work, despite the "intensity" image elite trail sometimes projects. See our complete guide to fundamental endurance.
- Joy before performance: in interviews he keeps coming back to the pleasure of running in the mountains. Intrinsic motivation that protects against early burnout — the #1 trap for young elites.
Bottom line: a name to write into the record books
At 26, Hugo Deck is no longer a prospect: he's a fixture at the top of French trail. His 9:48:14 on the 2026 MaXi-Race over a reversed, harder course confirms he's leveled up between 2024 and 2026. The summer will tell us whether he can convert that national momentum into a world title at Chamonix.
One thing is certain: last Sunday around Lake Annecy, French trail crowned a new king of the ultra.