The Magic Powers of the XTERRA European Championships
There is no greater magic power than to be mesmerised by the action-packed XTERRA European Triathlon Championships being held this week-end Friday and Saturday, August 20th & 21st in Zittau, Germany, The thrills and spills of Off-Road Racing is incredibly unpredictable. Flat tires, mechanicals, crashes, and blowing up, only to name a few.
This is the fourth time the historic town of Zittau has hosted the EU Championships centred around Olbersdorfer Lake on the edge of Zittau, near the Polish and Czech borders which, this year will focus on the renewed staging of the XTERRA European Triathlon Championships and the XTERRA Short Track Germany premiere.
Saturdays main event the XTERRA European Championship race combines a 1.5km swim, 37km single loop mountain bike, and 10km trail run, with a $25,500 USD purse up for grabs for the Elite Athletes and 51 qualifying spots into XTERRA Worlds in Maui for the Age Groupers.
Start of XTERRA European Championship Elite: 11:30am (10:30am BST)
Start of XTERRA European Championship AG Men 11:33am (10:33am BST)
Start of XTERRA European Championship AG Women 11:36am (10:36am BST)
The men’s elite race stars include 2019 XTERRA European Champion Arthur Serrieres who has already won four full-distance XTERRA races this year, his friend and rival Arthur Forissier – the reigning ITU Cross Tri World Champ who has won both XTERRA Short Track events so far this season, 7x World Champ Ruben Ruzafa, the uprising Maxim Chane fresh off full-distance wins at XTERRA France and Italy-Scanno, Short Track speedsters Jens Emil Slot Neilsen and Lukas Kocar, and home country legend Jens Roth.
The women’s field is equally impressive with reigning XTERRA European Champ Morgane Riou, 5x XTERRA European Tour Champ Helena Karaskova-Erbenova, 2019 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Champ Carina Wasle, and five elite women who have won an XTERRA major or Short Track race this season including Loanne Duvoisin (Garda ST + Czech full winner), Sandra Mairhofer (Scanno full), Solenne Billoin (France + Belgium full), Marta Menditto (Czech ST), and Eleonora Peroncini (Switzerland full).
New this year is Fridays exciting adrenaline-filled XTERRA Short Track which will see the fastest off-roaders going shoulder-to-shoulder in an exciting prelude to Saturday’s Championship full distance showdown.
As the name suggests, XTERRA Short Track is a fast, multi-lap, made-for-TV event combining two 200-meter swim laps with an exit in-between, four 1.5km mountain bike laps complete with jumps and berms, and two 1.3km run loops. Winning times are expected to be in the 30–40-minute range.
Friday’s prelude to Saturdays Championship will commence with the women’s Short Track race starting at the local time 3:20pm (2.20pm BST) followed by the men at 4:35pm (3.35pm BST).
You can watch all the action of Friday’s XTERRA Short Track premiere on XTERRA Europe Facebook live stream here:
WHAT IS XTERRA TRIATHLON?
Xterra is a particular racing series of cross triathlon (off-road triathlon) races. All the races involve an open water swim, mountain biking (instead of road riding for traditional triathlon events), and trail running (instead of road running).
In simple terms it is what track running is to cross-crossing running, the same, but different.
The races vary widely depending on the location and terrain. Some races may be harder than others based on the amount of elevation and the technicality of the trails.
The gear you use is much the same as standard triathlon just switch the road bike for a mountain bike and road shoes for trail shoes.
Top 5 Xterra Tips by Elite Xterra Dutch Triathlete Colin Fleming.
Can road racing triathletes do this?
In answer to that question is simple. Tokyo Olympic Gold Medal Winner Flora Duffy is a five-time XTERRA World Champion and Hayden Wilde who won the Bronze at the Tokyo Olympics won the 15-19 division in 2015 and 2016
Other Olympians of note who are also fabulous off-roaders include (but is not limited to) Michellie Jones, 1996 XTERRA World Championship and Silver Medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Hamish Carter, the 2006 XTERRA World Champ and 2004 Gold Medalist, Javier Gomez – the 2012 XTERRA World Champ who won Silver in 2012, Bevan Docherty (Silver 2004, Bronze 2008), Jan Frodeno (Gold 2008), Erin Densham (Bronze 2012), Susan Williams (Bronze 2004), and of course, Flora Duffy (Gold 2020)!
