Leading trail running brand Salomon has announced its new running team for 2025, with 13 rising stars joining the ranks of some of the best trail runners on the planet.
The Salomon running team was formed back in 2004 and over the past two decades has put runners on podiums from short distance races to epic 100-milers, from the Alps to the Rocky Mountains. Some of its most notable athletes include Courtney Dauwaulter, who has dominated the 100-mile trail running scene in recent years with wins at UTMB, Hard Rock, Western States and Mt Fuji 100, always in her beloved S/Lab Genesis shoes. Then there's Mathieu Blanchard, also a fan of the Genesis but known to trot out a few wins in the S/Lab Ultras, and who made headlines this year when he won a brutal 600k Yukon race and last year in the Grand Raid De La Réunion.
But that was then. While those runners, in addition to other greats like Remi Bonnet, Marianne Hogan, Lucy Bartholomew and Francoise d'Haene remain on the roster, it's the new brood that are getting their turn in the spotlight.
The new runners include several up-and-coming French stars, including 20-year-old Annaelle Bondoux, who won the UTMB ETC Marathon du Mont-Blanc 20k races in 2024 and Eliot Retulli who rarely finishes off the podium, and had five big wins last year including the X Alpine 100k in Verbier. Aurore Dacier has seen no less than eight UTMB ranking race wins, including the 2024 Translantau 100k, and Simon Paccard took second at the Nice Cote d'Azur 50k.
Julien Veyssere is a new Salomon para-athlete who carried the 2024 Olympic torch flame in the relay to Paris and will be on the UTMB CCC starting line again this year.
From the UK, Naomi Lang joins after winning the Snowdon International in Wales and dazzling the world of trail running with her descending skills at the Golden Trail World Series finals. From China, Jonas Soldini comes on board after finishing runner-up to Remi Bonnet at the Mammoth Dragon Ascent.
“The sport of trail-running has changed greatly over the past two decades,” says Scott Mellin, Salomon Global Chief Brand Officer.
“From now on, we intend to reinvent this sport from its current state to a future state where athlete performance in the biggest races is highly science-based, engineered and predictable."
Mellin shares that the team roster update is aligned with the Annecy-based brand's focus on product innovation, citing its exciting new carbon plate-free S/LAB Ultra Glides as a sign of what's to come on.
The whole team is currently training together in Corsica – and posting envy-inducing videos from the Mediterranean island – before heading to the first stop of the Golden Trail World Series in Japan for the Kobe Trail on April 16. For the long-distance runners, Courtney Dauwalter will be starting her season with her longest distance yet: the Cocodona 250 in May.
