Romain Dumas triumphs for a sixth time at Pikes Peak with a Chopard on his wrist

There are victories that go far beyond the mere realm of sport. By winning for the sixth time at the legendary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Romain Dumas writes a new chapter in his personal legend and confirms his status as the undisputed master of the “Race to the Clouds”. On his wrist, a Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono, the symbol of a partnership founded on a shared pursuit of excellence, precision and self-transcendence.

Pikes Peak, a climb that became legendary

In the world of motorsport, certain events possess a special aura. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Monte-Carlo Rally and the Indianapolis 500 are among them. In the United States, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb belongs to this category of extraordinary events.

Created in 1916 in the mountains of Colorado, this race is one of the oldest still being contested today. Nicknamed “The Race to the Clouds”, it confronts every driver with a unique challenge: climbing nearly twenty kilometres of mountain road up to more than 4,300 metres of altitude.

But Pikes Peak is like no other competition.

Here, there is neither overtaking nor wheel-to-wheel duelling. Each competitor sets off alone against the clock, tackling a course made up of 156 corners where the slightest misjudgement can prove very costly. As the altitude increases, the air thins, weather conditions change rapidly and grip becomes ever more delicate.

This climb demands absolute concentration, perfect mechanical mastery and precision at every moment. Qualities that naturally echo the world of Haute Horlogerie.

Romain Dumas, the undisputed king of the mountain

Few drivers have as strong a relationship with an event as Romain Dumas has with Pikes Peak.

The Frenchman is no longer merely a specialist of this legendary climb: he has become its absolute reference.

In June 2026, he once again demonstrated the full extent of his talent by crossing the finish line in 8 minutes, 18 seconds and 202 thousandths. A performance that gives him a sixth victory in the overall classification and confirms his dominance over this extraordinary competition.

This success adds to an already exceptional record of achievements.

In 2018, Romain Dumas made motorsport history by becoming the first driver to break the symbolic eight-minute barrier, thanks to a time of 7 minutes 57 seconds and 148 thousandths. A record that still remains the absolute reference on this legendary climb today.

Even without beating his own time this year, this new victory demonstrates remarkable consistency in a discipline where conditions are constantly changing and where every climb represents a fresh challenge.

Six successes in such an event are no longer a matter of one-off performance. They bear witness to a genuine mastery of the mountain.

When watchmaking precision accompanies performance

For several years now, Chopard has supported Romain Dumas in his sporting challenges.

A partnership that rests not solely on image, but on deeply shared values.

The relentless pursuit of precision, the taste for perfectly executed work, the ability to push limits while retaining total mastery of every detail: so many principles that naturally bring the French driver and the Swiss manufacture closer together.

During this latest victorious climb, Romain Dumas wore an Alpine Eagle XL Chrono fitted on a black rubber strap.

A choice that was anything but incidental.

Designed to withstand the most demanding environments, this watch combines robustness, legibility and chronometric performance.

Its imposing 44 mm case in Lucent Steel™, the exclusive steel developed by Chopard, offers high resistance while benefiting from a remarkable brilliance and a more environmentally responsible composition.

Inside beats a chronograph movement equipped with a column wheel and a flyback function, two features that are particularly prized in the world of sports chronographs, where speed and precision of measurement are essential.

At more than 4,000 metres of altitude, where every detail counts, this Alpine Eagle XL Chrono naturally finds its full legitimacy.

The Alpine Eagle, a collection born to push the limits

Launched as the contemporary heir to Chopard’s famous St. Moritz of the 1980s, the Alpine Eagle collection quickly established itself as one of the great successes of Chopard.

Inspired by the power of Alpine nature, it combines taut lines, an immediately recognisable design and a particularly refined execution.

The Alpine Eagle XL Chrono represents the sportiest interpretation of this family.

Its integrated architecture, its distinctive bezel secured by eight screws aligned along a cardinal axis and its dial inspired by an eagle’s iris give it a strong personality without ever sacrificing the elegance characteristic of the house.

This ability to reconcile watchmaking refinement with sporting performance explains why it now accompanies personalities operating in the most extreme environments.

A shared vision of excellence

Beyond the sporting result, this sixth victory illustrates the coherence of the partnership between Chopard and Romain Dumas.

Both share the same philosophy: that of striving for perfection without ever giving in to the easy way out.

For Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, this new victory rewards the driver’s exceptional talent as much as his ability to demonstrate precision, resilience and a constant will to push his own limits.

Qualities that naturally find their equivalent in the design of a Haute Horlogerie timepiece.

For while the worlds of motorsport and watchmaking may seem different, they ultimately rest on the same fundamentals: perfectly mastered mechanics, absolute reliability and an obsessive attention to the smallest detail.

A victory that goes beyond the stopwatch

Romain Dumas’s success at Pikes Peak is a reminder that there are still competitions where man, machine and mountain maintain an almost intimate relationship.

Here, no artifice can conceal a misjudgement. Every line, every acceleration and every braking point contributes to the final result.

This constant quest for precision echoes the one pursued by watchmakers for centuries.

By accompanying this historic sixth victory, Chopard celebrates not only a sporting performance. The manufacture highlights values that also form the foundation of its identity: excellence, technical mastery, reliability and the constant pursuit of perfection.

In a world where records are often fleeting, some feats leave a lasting mark. With six victories on the most famous hill climb in the world and an outright record that remains unmatched, Romain Dumas now belongs to that category of drivers who go down in history.

And it is hard to imagine a better travelling companion than an Alpine Eagle XL Chrono to measure the time of these feats which, for their part, already seem timeless.

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