France’s Maxim Chané and Alizée Patiès won the final Short Track races of the 2026 XTERRA World Cup on Friday, October 30, as the series finale began inside historic Panmen Square in Suzhou, China.
XTERRA became the first international sports brand to stage World Cup competition at Panmen, a water fortress in Suzhou’s old town. Athletes completed a 0.4K non-wetsuit swim, 8K mountain bike and 3K run under sunny skies. Air temperature was 22°C and water temperature was 20.7°C.
Full results, splits and updated standings are available on the World Cup stop page. France’s Arthur Forissier and Italy’s Marta Menditto remain the series leaders heading into Sunday’s deciding race.
Chané Catches Bonacina on the Run
Maxim Chané knew his bike was ready only eight minutes before the start. “I broke my chain 40 minutes before the race, and thanks to the efficiency of the Chinese team here, we could order a new chain and it arrived within 20 minutes,” he said.
Italy’s Michele Bonacina led out of the canal in 5:54, followed by the Netherlands’ Hugo Bosscher. Chané and fellow Frenchman Elliot Labourdette emerged together, 14 seconds behind Bonacina, with Italy’s Federico Spinazzè another second back.
Bonacina reached the second transition 17 seconds ahead of Chané. Behind them, Forissier was trying to close on the chasing group. “On the bike, I was feeling good, but I couldn’t reach the group just ahead of me with Maxim Chané, Elliot Labourdette and Federico Spinazzè at the end. So I rode alone, and it was the same on the run,” Forissier said.
France’s Nicolas Duré covered the bike in 20:37, a second quicker than Bonacina, and began the run just four seconds behind Forissier. “I tried to come back on the bike, moving up one by one, but I still came into transition about 40 seconds behind the leaders,” Duré said.
At the front, Bonacina’s quicker transition had extended his advantage over Chané to 23 seconds. Spinazzè and Labourdette were next onto the run. “I tried my best, but Maxim was on another pace. He caught me in the middle of the second loop. I tried to stay with him a little bit, but it was a bit too much for me, so I let him go,” Bonacina said.
Duré’s 11:09 run took him past Forissier, Labourdette and Spinazzè, bringing a second French athlete into the podium positions. “Then after the wall section, I saw that Nicolas Duré was coming back to me, so I had to change the pace a bit and sprint at the end just to keep second position,” Bonacina said.
“I was a little too far away to try for the sprint,” Duré said. “Often I really go all-out in the Short Track and then struggle in the Full Distance, so I preferred not to attempt the sprint because I don’t think it would have worked.”
Chané finished in 39:00, with Bonacina holding second in 39:07 and Duré taking third in 39:15. Forissier finished fourth, ahead of Spinazzè and Labourdette. “I raced like I had nothing to lose, and I think that’s what made me win today,” Chané said.
With only each athlete’s best four Short Track results counting toward the World Cup, Forissier retains a 39-point lead over Chané. The five leading men filled Friday’s top five and remain in the same overall order.
See the Suzhou World Cup stop page for the complete results, splits and standings.
Patiès Takes Control on the Bike
Britain’s Isla Hedley led the women out of the water in 6:34. Patiès and fellow Frenchwoman Emma Ducreux followed six seconds later, with the Netherlands’ Romy Spoelder next.
“There was quite a long run to transition, so you could make up a little bit of time, and then just throw gas onto the bike,” Hedley said.
Patiès’s 22:36 bike split was the fastest in the field and moved her into the lead. By the start of the run, she was 30 seconds clear of Spoelder, with Ducreux and Hedley close behind. The three chasers left transition within five seconds of one another.
“My favourite part was the bike course. Maybe my advantage was just pushing hard on the pedals. We’re used to that in Holland, so maybe that helped,” Spoelder said.
Patiès added the race’s fastest run to finish in 43:25. Spoelder took second in 44:16, while Hedley moved ahead of Ducreux on the run to claim third in 44:29, six seconds clear of the Frenchwoman.
“It was really good working with Romy Spoelder and Emma Ducreux. It’s nice to have other people to push you all the way through. It was a fight all the way to the end, and they all did so well,” Hedley said.
“It was really incredible to swim in a place like this and to be able to race in the city with the spectators. It was really great. I really enjoyed it,” Patiès said.
Menditto finished seventh and retains an 89-point World Cup lead over Ducreux, with Hedley third overall. Patiès’s victory lifts her to fifth, just ahead of Spoelder. The full World Cup standings set out the positions heading into Sunday.
Short Track Inside Panmen
Panmen’s history reaches back to Suzhou’s founding in 514 BC, with gateways built for both land and water traffic. The canal swim passed beside Wumen Bridge near the finish, while the bike course followed the historic walls.
“Honestly, this place is insane. I never would have imagined racing an XTERRA here. To have a site this exceptional reserved for the race is just incredible,” Duré said. “We XTERRA athletes are really very lucky to have this for the final.”
“This is the most incredible place I’ve ever raced in. It’s so historic and scenic. I’m very grateful to be able to race in this place,” Hedley said.
Daniel Tsang, who lives in Shanghai, was visiting Panmen for the first time. “This place makes you feel like you’ve gone back in time. With XTERRA’s course design here, it still feels very cultural, but with a modern touch,” he said.
Linda Yu had visited Panmen since childhood. “When I was young, Panmen was a historical scenic area to me. It was somewhere we might come for spring outings, autumn outings, or sightseeing,” she said.
Yu added, “Water has always been an important part of Suzhou. The city is known as the Venice of the East. I saw the athletes cycling through the scenic area at such high speeds, and I found it really inspiring,” she said. “I want to learn how to swim and join a triathlon.”
One Race Left Beside Lake Taihu
The Full Distance race on Sunday, November 1, takes the field into Lake Taihu and onto the trails of Yuyang Mountain, with Forissier and Menditto defending their series leads.
The Yuyang Bay Outdoor Sports Center and Yuyang Mountain MTB Park form XTERRA’s year-round base in Suzhou, offering training and outdoor experiences beside Lake Taihu. Residents and visitors can swim, ride and run here, with road and off-road athletes training in the same surroundings.
“The plan now is to recover as well as I can and see what happens. I really like the bike track on Sunday, so I really hope I can do something good,” Forissier said.
Follow XTERRA Asia-Pacific and XTERRA Planet on Instagram for more from Friday’s Short Track, including race highlights and athlete reels.
