The XTERRA European Championship returns to Zittau, Germany for an action-packed weekend of full distance and televised Short Track off-road triathlon racing Friday and Saturday, August 20-21.
It’s the 12th time XTERRA has raced around Olbersdorfer Lake on the edge of Zittau, a historic town near the Polish and Czech borders, and the fourth time it’s hosted the EU Championship.
New this year is the adrenaline-filled XTERRA Short Track race on Friday afternoon featuring the sports fastest off-roaders going shoulder-to-shoulder in an exciting prelude to Saturday’s 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.
The women’s Short Track race starts at 3:20pm CEST followed by the men at 4:35pm, and both events will be broadcast live on Facebook.com/xterraeurope.
Saturday’s race features the tradition XTERRA full distance that combines a 1.5km swim, 37km single loop mountain bike course, and a 10km trail run. The entire elite field will take part in both events, with a $7,500 USD purse up for grabs during Friday’s Short Track spectacle and $25,000 USD on the line in Saturday’s championship race.
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 5x XTERRA European Tour Champ Helena Karaskova-Erbenova, reigning XTERRA European Champ Morgane Riou, 2019 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Champ Carina Wasle, and four elite women who have won an XTERRA full distance major this season with Loanna Duvoisin (Czech Champ), Sandra Mairhofer (Scanno Champ), Solenne Billoin (XTERRA France + Belgium Champ), and Eleonora Peroncini (Switzerland Champ).
Tentative Elite Men’s Start List
World Ranking – Name, NAT
3 - Arthur Serrieres, FRA
4 – Ruben Ruzafa, ESP
9 - Maxim Chane, FRA
10 - Jens Emil Sloth Neilsen, DNK
11 - Lukas Kocar, CZE
13 - Arthur Forissier, FRA
15 - Karel Dusek, CZE
17 - Jens Roth, DEU
18 - Xavier Dafflon, CHE
19 - Sébastien Carabin, BEL
24 - François Vie, PRT
34 - Rui Dolores, PRT
35 - Michele Bonacina, ITA
43 - Mathias Cloostermans, BEL
46 - Lucas Van deyzne, BEL
47 - Franco Pesavento, ITA
51 - Peter Lehmann, DEU
52 - Tiago Maia, PRT
62 - Michael Francke, CZE
91 - Simon Schwartz, DEU
107 - Gaetan Vivien, FRA
109 - Jan Francke, CZE
112 - Will Crudgington, GBR
130 - Julien Buffe, FRA
149 - Vojtech Bednarsky, CZE
NR - Morgan Rhodes, GBR
Tentative Women’s Start List
World Ranking – Name, NAT
3 - Helena Karaskova- Erbenova, CZE
5 - Morgane Riou, FRA
7 - Loanne Duvoisin, CHE
11 - Sandra Mairhofer, ITA
12 - Solenne Billoin, FRA
15 - Carina Wasle, AUT
20 - Eleonora Peroncini, ITA
23 - Matilde Bolzan, ITA
24 - Jindrinska Zemanova, CZE
30 - Aneta Grabmullerova, CZE
42 - Emeline Azam, FRA
47 - Pauline Vie, PRT
48 - Anna Luzna, CZE
88 - Stepanka Bisova, CZE
163 - Louise Fox, GBR
259 - Katja Krenn, AUT
372 - Lara Buttigieg, MLT
NR - Diede Diedericks, NLD