The two athletes in seventh this year both had standout seasons, rising to a level in their disciplines they hadn’t quiet hit before. For one runner that meant setting a world record, and for another that meant finally clinching the series title they’d been hunting for three years. In both cases they blew us all away with their 2025 performances – and if you need a catch-up on TROY thus far you can find them here: eighth, ninth and tenth.

In seventh position this year we have Scott’s Madalina Florea and Salomon’s Rémi Bonnet.

Despite knocking at the door the last few years this is Madalina’s first time breaking through into the TROY Top Ten. Madalina first came onto our radar after finishing fourth in both the Vertical Uphill and Classic Mountain race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships (WMTRC) in 2022. Her star has only risen since! The Romanian who might be best known for her racing flair on the Gold Trail World Series (GTWS), often bedazzling her uniform and bib, broke through in more ways than one this year finally clinching the overall GTWS title after finish sixth in 2024 and third in 2023. 

Madalina lined up eleven times in 2025 on her way to top step of the GTWS podium, only finishing off the podium once in an uncharacteristically hard day at Sierre-Zinal. Always in the mix Madalina finished second at Kobe Trail, third at the Jinshanling Great Wall Trail Race, first at Golfo Dell Isola, second at The Broken Arrow SkyRace 23-kilometer, third at the Tepec Trail 34-kilometer, first at the Matterhorn Ultraks Vertinight, first at HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc ETC (XX distnace), first at the Ciaucas X3 Cros, first at the Ciucas X3 half-marathon, and second at the GTWS Grand Finale (Ledro Sky Trentino). 

If there is any trend emerging in the back half of the TROY top ten it might be the incredible caliber of the multi-sport athlete. While it’s true that orienteering and skimountaineering are all part of the mountain/trail endurance family the fact that these athletes are so succesful in trail running despite it not being their primary sport is remarkable. Rémi Bonnet is one of those athletes. The thirty year old Swiss skimountaineer and trail runner is so dominant on skis that you have to go back to 2022 to find an individual skimo World Cup he hasn’t won. In 2025 he won eight of eight skimo World Cups in both the vertical and individual disciplines, including a double gold medal performance back in March at the SkiMountaineering World Championships. This is the context I need you to remember when we say Rémi had a slow or rough transition into his running season in the spring – he was busy being the very best on snow. 

Over the past few seasons Rémi has shown off his versatility beyond the vertical discipline performing quiet well on the GTWS. This year with a rocky start in April and May, some what hampered by injury, Rémi returned to what he is world class at – going uphill better than anyone else. During that time he lined up and won both the Neirivue-Moléson and the Vertical Uphill race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships before setting the World Record at hte Kilomètre Vertical De Fully in a blistering 27:21. The fastest man to run uphill in the world.

Congratulations to both runners, you both cemented yourselves as podium favorites in short, fast racing that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Check back here tomorrow morning to see which two runners made their way to number six.

Thanks to All Conditions Gear for their support of the 2025 Trail Runner of the Year awards!