August 19, 2022 - Alizee Paties (FRA) and Felix Forissier (FRA) won the third round of the XTERRA Short Track off-road triathlon series with winning times of 36:45 and 32:24, respectively, in Zittau, Germany on Friday, August 19, 2022.
“It was really spectacular racing and so fun to watch,” said XTERRA Europe director, Nico Lebrun. “This is exactly the kind of action we envisioned for Short Track racing to showcase the skill and speed of XTERRA athletes to a worldwide audience.”
The race combined two 200-meter swim laps with four 1.5km mountain bike laps complete with jumps and berms, and two 1.3km run loops.
In the women’s race Anna Gazzari (ITA) was first out of the water with Samantha Kingsford (NZL) and Maria Calleja (ESP) right behind.
Once on the bike, Paties quickly took the lead and never looked back, posting the fastest bike split of the day and holding off a flurry of challenges from the sport's biggest stars on the run to take the win.
“I gave everything, 150% today. I come from mountain biking so these obstacles are fun for me and I took advantage of all the jumps and berms to stay in front,” said Paties, who finished second in the previous two Short Track races.
Loanne Duvoisin (SUI), who won round 1 in France, passed Sandra Mairhofer (ITA) and Solenne Billouin (FRA) on the run to finish second.
“I didn’t have my best legs but pushed as hard as I could on the run. I wasn’t even thinking about tomorrow’s race,” said Duvoisin, who will try to win her first full-distance race of the season tomorrow at XTERRA Germany.
Billouin (FRA) had a brilliant race and finished third for the third time in a row in Short Track racing this year.
“At least I’m always on the podium,” she smiled. “Really though, I’m happy because I took the A-line every time and did the jumps and that was one goal. And it was a great battle with the girls, now it’s time to recover for tomorrow."
Kingsford finished fourth for the second time this season, and Mairhofer rounded out the top five.
Women’s Results
Place - Name, NAT (Final Time) Points
1 - Alizee Paties, FRA (36:35) 100
2 - Loanne Duvoisin, SUI (36:59) 90
3 - Solenne Billouin, FRA (37:16) 82
4 - Samantha Kingsford, NZL (38:05) 75
5 - Sandra Mairhofer, ITA (38:45) 69
6 - Jindriska Zemanova, CZE (38:58) 63
7 - Helena Karaskova, CZE (39:19) 58
8 - Carina Wasle, AUT (39:57) 53
9 - Segolene Leberon, FRA (40:17) 49
10 - Amanda Felder, USA (40:30) 45
Fastest swim: Anna Gazzari (6:29)
Fastest bike: Alizee Paties (18:19)
Fastest run: Loanne Duvoisin (9:55)
In the men’s race Michele Bonacina (ITA) had the fastest swim for the second week in a row in 5:41 just ahead of American up-and-comer Keller Norland.
Bonacina led the first of four laps on the bike with countryman Federico Spinazze on his wheel, but by the end of the second lap there was a frenzy of action with Bonacina, Spinazze, Maxim Chane (FRA), and Francois Vie (POR) tire-to-tire going around the spectacular berm over the water.
Seconds later, a chase pack of seven that included Sam Osborne (NZL), Felix Forissier (FRA), Ruben Ruzafa (ESP), Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen (DEN), Franco Pesavento (ITA), and Arthur Serrieres (FRA) weaved their way through the obstacles and over the jumps like a centipede on the prowl.
The passing was frenetic, with nobody more brazen on the moves than Sloth Nielsen - who ended up with the fastest bike split of the day to move from 16th place and 45-seconds back out of the swim to first into the bike-to-run transition just ahead of Chane (pictured).
“That was hectic, I owe beers to some of the guys for my overtaking out there, but I didn’t crash any of them and I’m still in one piece so I think it’s okay,” said Sloth Nielsen.
Chane beat Sloth Nielsen out of transition and had the lead on the run for just a bit, as more intensity was on display - this time from Felix Forissier - who was sprinting up hills and bounding down stairs like a cat.
Forissier was third out of transition but caught up to both Nielsen and Chane at the start of the run and pulled away to take the tape with six-seconds to spare over Sloth Nielsen.
“The level of competition is so high with all these guys. I’m just impressed how close everyone is and I’m happy to battle with them,” said Forissier, who won the XTERRA France full-distance race last month.
Sloth Nielsen held on for second, and Arthur Serrieres posted the fastest run of the day to move past Chane into third-place.
“Pretty insane to do all this racing in a row, but I have to say I was watching the women’s coverage on TV before our race and it’s really pretty good. I hope the fans are enjoying it,” laughed Serrieres.
Chane held on for fourth, and Osborne was solid all around to finish fifth.
Men’s Results
Place - Name, NAT (Final Time) Points
1 - Felix Forissier, FRA (32:24) 100
2 - Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen, DEN (32:30) 90
3 - Arthur Serrieres, FRA (32:43) 82
4 - Maxim Chane, FRA (32:49) 75
5 - Sam Osborne, NZL (32:55) 69
6 - Arthur Forissier, FRA (33:18) 63
7 - Franco Pesavento, ITA (33:26) 58
8 - Michele Bonacina, ITA (33:38) 53
9 - Scott Anderson, GER (33:46) 49
10 - Federico Spinazze, ITA (34:02) 45
Fastest swim: Michele Bonacina (5:41)
Fastest bike: Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen (16:05)
Fastest run: Arthur Serrieres (8:35)
PATIES, SERRIERES/CHANE ATOP STANDINGS AFTER 3
With today’s win, Alizee Paties took the lead in the women’s standings with 280 points heading into the XTERRA Short Track season finale in Trentino, Italy on October 2, the day after XTERRA Worlds.
Top 10 Women
Place - Name, NAT (Points)
1 - Alizee Paties, FRA (280)
2 - Loanne Duvoisin, SUI (265)
3 - Solenne Billouin, FRA (246)
4 - Jindriska Zemanova, CZE (195)
T5 - Sandra Mairhofer, ITA (169)
T5 - Carina Wasle, AUT (169)
7 - Amanda Felder, USA (161)
8 - Samantha Kingsford, NZL (150)
9 - Segolene Leberon, FRA (94)
10 - Beatriz Ferreira, POR (84)
In the men’s chase, Arthur Serrieres and Maxm Chane are tied for first with 247 points, setting the stage for a spectacular final round in the Dolomites.
Top 10 Men
Place - Name, NAT (Points)
T1 - Arthur Serrieres, FRA (247)
T1 - Maxim Chane, FRA (247)
3 - Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen, DEN (230)
4 - Felix Forissier, FRA (195)
5 - Arthur Forissier, FRA (183)
6 - Michele Bonacina, ITA (171)
7 - Sam Osborne, NZL (167)
8 - Ruben Ruzafa, ESP (159)
9 - Francois Vie, POR (154)
10 - Federico Spinazze, ITA (123)
Up next, the XTERRA Germany full-distance off-road triathlon tomorrow, August 20, then the XTERRA World Championship on October 1st followed by the XTERRA Short Track finale on October 2.
Useful links:
Everything you need to know about Short Track
All-time XTERRA Short Track Champions
Date (Location) - Men’s Winner/Women’s Winner
August 4, 2019 (Prachatice, Czech Republic) - Arthur Forissier/Loanne Duvoisin
September 4, 2020 (Prachatice, Czech Republic) - Arthur Serrieres/Laura Philipp
October 3, 2020 (Trentino, Italy) - Ruben Ruzafa/Marta Menditto
June 5, 2021 (Lake Garda, Italy) - Arthur Forissier/Loanne Duvoisin
June 20, 2021 (Prachatice, Czech Republic) - Arthur Forissier/Marta Menditto
August 20, 2021 (Zittau, Germany) - Lukas Kocar/Diede Diederiks
August 29, 2021 (Pujols, France) - Arthur Serrieres/Michelle Flipo
--- 2022 ---
July 2, 2022 (Xonrupt, France) - Panagiotis Bitados/Loanne Duvoisin
August 14, 2022 (Prachatice, Czech Republic) - Lukas Kocar/Sandra Mairhofer
August 19, 2022 (Zittau, Germany) Felix Forissier/Alizee Paties
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