Louis Doumas Wins Men's Kilometre Vertical at 43rd OTSO Travessa d'Encamp

France's Louis Doumas won the men's kilometre vertical race that kicked off the 43rd OTSO Travessa d'Encamp on Friday evening, with Andorran FAM athlete Arnau Soldevila taking second place.

Around 50 runners started the 4km uphill challenge at 6pm from Plaça dels Arínsols in Encamp, tackling more than 1,000m of elevation gain to the finish at Cap de Rep. Doumas clocked 47:34, finishing 43 seconds clear of Soldevila's 48:17. Colombia's Esteban Chaves, a former professional cyclist based in Andorra, secured third in 48:21, with Spain's Abel Carretero and Northern Ireland's Zak Hanna rounding out the top five.

In the women's race, Serbia's Sladjana Zagorac dominated with a time of 57:35, ahead of Spain's María Benito by more than two minutes and Belgium's Charlotte Cotton by 2:49—or 1:00:24 by one report. Spaniards Aitana Domènech and Reyes Moreno took fourth and fifth, while Andorran Noemí Fajardo was the leading local in 10th.

The Pyrenees' oldest mountain race attracted nearly 1,400 entrants from 39 countries in its most international edition yet, led by participants from Spain and France. The opening day blended competition with festivities at Plaça dels Arínsols, featuring live music, exhibitions, food stalls and bib collection.

The weekend schedule continued with the 84km race starting early Saturday, the 42km at 9am and a children's event at 11am. Sunday closed out the event with the 21km at 8am, 12km at 8:45am and 7km at 9:30am, all from central Encamp, plus an activities village.