Retired sprinter Nacer Bouhanni (retired, ex‑Arkéa‑Samsic) has traded lead‑outs for long runs and is getting alarmingly good at it. The former Grand Tour stage winner ran a 2:31:33 personal best at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday 7 December 2025, just shy of his stated 2:30 target.
The time lops more than three minutes off Bouhanni’s marathon debut in Frankfurt, where he clocked 2:34:44 in October 2024. In Valencia that equates to roughly 3:34 per kilometre for 42.195 km, the sort of pace that would put you near the front of most national‑level city marathons.
For context, this is a rider whose livelihood once depended on 10–15 second efforts. Across his road career Bouhanni amassed around 70 professional victories, including three stages of the Giro d’Italia and three at the Vuelta a España, before calling time on racing at the end of 2023. Few might have expected one of the peloton’s more explosive finishers to reappear as a sub‑2:32 marathoner.
Valencia’s famously fast course certainly helps, yet the progression from Frankfurt to Spain suggests diligent, running‑specific work rather than a one‑off adventure.
It also feeds a growing curiosity about what retired cyclists can do in other endurance sports. Cameron Wurf's transition into triathlon, or the flurry of rapid Strava times for pro cyclists who turn to running, shows that the engine you develop from a career in cycling seems well equipped to turn to any challenging aerobic sports.
Next on Bouhanni’s to‑do list practically writes itself. With 2:31:33 already in the bag, the former sprinter’s new finish‑line battle is as simple as three digits on the clock: 2:29:59.
Cover image credit: Alex Broadway/ASO/SWpix.com
