Gitonga and Saoli Claim victories at São Brás Cross World Cup Opener
Britain's Scout Adkin and Andrew Douglas finish runners up behind Kenyan runners at the WMRA mountain event in Portugal.
The 2026 Mountain Running World Cup season got underway in spectacular fashion, with São Brás Cross in Central Portugal providing a worthy and atmospheric curtain-raiser. This year's World Cup competition is the most ambitious yet, spanning four continents and 10 countries across 16 races - a global showcase that balances beloved calendar staples such as Sierre-Zinal and the Grossglockner Mountain Run with fresh venues designed to showcase exciting new venues and landscapes.
THE COURSE
São Brás Cross made an immediate impression on its World Cup debut, delivering exactly the variety of terrain and surfaces that its name implies. Classified as a Classic Up and Down, the 10.9km route with 628 metres of ascent was a fitting season opener for the World Cup given its manageable distance and elevation.
The course asserted its personality on the runners straight away. Starting amid the cobbled streets and stone-fronted houses of a traditional Portuguese village, the route plunged into a steep valley, where competitors crossed a stepping-stone river ford - the first taste of the canyon and river terrain that defines this part of Central Portugal. From there, the race climbed steeply to its high point before a fast, switchback descent gave way to a forest trail running alongside the river to the 7km mark.
The closing stages promised to be unforgiving. A long penultimate climb was followed by a descent back into town, before a final, punishing ascent on road to the finish line ensured no athlete could afford to ease off until they’d crossed the line.
As the home race of World Cup sponsor Tourism Central Portugal, São Brás Cross had every incentive to impress, and it delivered. Not overly steep or technical, the course was a genuine mountain classic: varied, scenic and demanding enough to sort the field without overwhelming it. A great first test for the athletes in this year’s competition.
ACTION FROM THE WOMEN’S AND MEN’S RACES
The race had separate starts for men and women, with the women starting first.
In the women’s race it was defending World Cup champion Scout Adkin (GBR, HOKA EU) who struck out, closely followed by one of the breakout stars of last year’s World Cup Nélie Clément (FRA, Gap Hautes Alpes Athlétisme) and runner-up from the 2025 World Championships Classic race, Ruth Mwihaki Gitonga (KEN, Run2gether On Trail). Elle Twentyman (GBR, New Balance) completed the initial group, with Marie Nivet (FRA, Nike ACG) 15 seconds behind.
For the men, as expected, it was Michael Selelo Saoli (KEN, Run2gether On Trail), third place overall in last year’s World Cup, who set the early pace. He was joined initially by a group of nine, including Théodore Klein (FRA, Entente Haute Alsace), 2019 World Cup champion Andrew Douglas (GBR, Westerlands CCC), and Matthew Knowles (GBR, Salomon UK), World junior champion in 2019.
The first gaps started opening in the long uphill taking the runners to the summit at 3.5km. Adkin led Gitonga, then Clement was 30 seconds behind them, closely followed by Twentyman, with another gap back to Martina Falchetti (ITA, La Sportiva) and Nivet. The uphill had a similar effect on the men’s race, and Saoli broke away from the group to take the lead, with Douglas just 10 seconds behind, closely followed by Oscar Subuh-Symons (GBR, Team OMM/Ambleside AC), Klein and Knowles.
But while the long uphill started to shake things up, it was the downhill section between kilometres four and six that proved decisive. It was here that Gitonga made her move and passed Adkin, and it was here that Saoli pulled away from the chasing Douglas. Gaps started to open up in the top 10s in both fields.
By the timing point at 7.5km Gitonga had a 25 second lead over Adkin, with a 30-second gap back to Clement, who remained in third, then a minute’s gap back to Twentyman, with Nivet completing the women’s top five another minute behind. It was starting to look like the top three would be difficult to catch, but anything can happen with fast, classic courses like this.
At the same point for the men Saoli had created a 30-second gap back to Douglas and Klein, with a small gap back to Subuh-Symons, with Knowles slightly further back. The men’s podium was still within reach for a number of runners and it was all going to come down to the next climb, the superfast downhill and the final lung-busting uphill sprint in town to the finish.
Despite Adkin keeping the pressure on consistently, Gitonga proved impossible to reel in and she took the women’s win in 49:12. Adkin was second in 50:13 and Clement claimed third in 51.20, having increased her gap to Twentyman to almost two minutes. Gitonga announced herself on the World Cup stage in a big way, and looks to be a new force to be reckoned with, alongside Adkin.
Saoli also couldn’t be caught and won the men’s race in 42:22, with Douglas a really strong second in 43:27. Subuh-Symons overtook Klein in the final kilometres to claim third, a major landmark in his mountain running career so far. We saw a number of male athletes new to the World Cup in this race, which bodes well for an exciting season.
Women
Men
Next the World Cup heads to China, for a double header in Beijing with an Uphill and Classic Up and Down race at Yanshou Trail Challenge next weekend. See the full World Cup calendar at WMRA WORLD CUP
