Loanne Duvoisin (SUI) and Arthur Forissier (FRA) won the XTERRA Switzerland off-road triathlon elite races in Lac des Taillères on Saturday, June 17, 2023, with winning times of 2:47:25 and 2:19:42, respectively.
It’s the third big full-distance XTERRA win for Duvoisin, her second in as many weeks following her victory at the XTERRA European Championship in Belgium last Saturday. It's the 10th career XTERRA World Tour victory for Forissier, and his second this year after winning the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship in Taiwan in April.
Today’s race marked the 13th edition of XTERRA Switzerland, but it’s first time in the Brévine Valley in the Canton of Neuchâtel.
In the women’s elite race Duvoisin led from wire-to-wire, posting the fastest swim (25:47), bike (1:40:38), and run (39:41) spits to take the tape and the women’s Swiss Cross Triathlon National Championship title.
“Always good to win the national title, and to do it here in Brévine is really special,” said Duvoisin. “It was a hard day after the big effort in Belgium last week, and I didn’t taper at all so I was really tired and just tried to push through it. The course was really fun though, and it’s such a pretty location.”
In the race for second place, Ségolène Léberon from France was fifth out of the water before passing Carole Perrot (SUI), Joanna Ryter (SUI), and Carolyne Guay (CAN) on the bike and then held off a speedy Guay on the run to finish runner-up by just 18 seconds.
“I enjoyed this race a lot, the track was super fun, and I was really happy to hold on to second place today because I was having some stomach problems on the run and Carolyne was coming on strong,” said Léberon.
For Guay, who won the 30-34 division XTERRA World Championship in 2021 before turning pro, it’s her first time on the podium in a Silver level race.
Top 5 Elite Women
Pl - Name, NAT (Time)
1 - Loanne Duvoisin SUI (2:47:25)
2 - Ségolène Léberon, FRA (3:02:46)
3 - Carolyne Guay, CAN (3:03:04)
4 - Joanna Ryter, SUI (3:06:57)
5 - Carole Perrot, SUI (3:08:44)
In the men’s race, Forissier was first out of the water in 22:32, followed by James Shalvoy (USA) six seconds later, then Théo Dupras (FRA) five seconds after him.
“I had a good swim, but it was long and I felt like the buoys were not getting bigger even though I was pushing hard,” laughed Forissier. “It was my first time to win the swim in XTERRA, quite rare, so I’m really happy about that.”
Once on the bike, Forissier had familiar company up front as Dupras, his HexaTri teammate, posted the fastest bike split of the day in 1:21:33 (one-second better quicker than Forissier) and the two rode together and into T2 about the same time.
“The bike was really cool, technical and in nature, and I had a lot of fun riding with Theo. We were pushing very hard, and on the second loop we passed many age groupers so it was cool to see the race of the other athletes too.”
All doubts on who would take the top spot were removed on the run as Forissier clocked the fastest 10K of the day (34:29) to take the crown. It’s the fifth time Forissier has won XTERRA Switzerland, his first coming in 2015.
“I made a big effort to pull away on the run, and really enjoyed my day in Switzerland. I will be back again next year.”
The runner-up performance for Dupras marks his best result on the XTERRA World Tour (he was third at XTERRA Switzerland in 2021). Sébastien Carabin (BEL) finished third, and Xavier Dafflon took home the Swiss Cross Triathlon National Championship as the top local finisher in fourth place overall.
“I had a good fight with Arthur, I did the whole bike with him and did what I could on the run but he is faster than me,” said Dupras. “It’s a real pleasure to come back to Switzerland, and discover this new place in Brévine. The track was interesting and full of many things that make mountain biking fun. It was a good day for me, a good day for the team, and I really enjoyed it.”
Top 5 Elite Men
Pl - Name, NAT (Time)
1 - Arthur Forissier, FRA (2:19:42)
2 - Théo Dupras, FRA (2:21:28)
3 - Sébastien Carabin, BEL (2:27:55)
4 - Xavier Dafflon, SUI (2:31:42)
5 - Dominik Wychera, AUT (2:33:57)
Up Next: The XTERRA World Tour heads to Valachy in the Czech Republic next weekend, June 24-45, while the XTERRA World Cup gets back in action August 12-13 in Prachatice, Czech.
All-time XTERRA Switzerland Elite Race Winners
Year - Host - Men/Women
2010 - Prangins - Olivier Marceau/Marion Lorblanchet
2011 - Prangins - Olivier Marceau/Marion Lorblanchet
2012 - Prangins - Nico Lebrun/Helena Karáskov
2013 - Vallée de Joux - Victor Del Corral/Helena Karásková
2014 - Vallée de Joux - Ruben Ruzafa/Kathrin Mueller
2015 - Vallée de Joux - Arthur Forissier/Carina Wasle
2016 - Vallée de Joux - Ruben Ruzafa/Michelle Flipo
2017 - Vallée de Joux - Arthur Forissier/Michelle Flipo
2018 - Vallée de Joux - Arthur Forissier/Brigitta Poor
2019 - Vallée de Joux - Arthur Forissier/Camille Defer
2021 - Vallée de Joux - Arthur Serrières/Eleonora Peroncini
2022 - No pro race
2023 - Lac des Taillères - Arthur Forissier/Loanne Duvoisin
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