What’s Next for the Euro Champs

The XTERRA European Championship has changed shape since its introduction in 2006, moving through different formats and host venues while continuing to bring the strongest off-road triathletes in the region into the same race. Felix Forissier and Loanne Duvoisin won the 2023 titles in Belgium. Arthur Serrières and Solenne Billouin claimed the 2024 titles in the Czech Republic. Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen and Billouin took the 2025 Elite titles in Germany, where Youth European Champions were crowned across all three youth divisions for the first time.

The 2026 edition now returns the title race to Italy with Molveno offering a course that many of the sport’s leading athletes already understand well. It is familiar, but never simple. The lake opens the race with one of the most recognizable swims in XTERRA. The bike course moves quickly from beauty into effort, climbing hard before demanding control through the descents. The run keeps changing rhythm around the lake and through the surrounding terrain, leaving little room for athletes who expect the course to settle into one clear pattern.

Felix Forissier says the European Championship is “always extremely competitive” and that the level of athletes is “motivating,” while Arthur Forissier calls it “a big moment and a race I don’t want to miss,” pointing also to the wider XTERRA atmosphere created by “a lot of athletes and family.” Kerri-Ann Upham sees the race as “the ultimate test before Worlds,” with “high stakes, big crowds, and the perfect stage to go all-in,” and that sense of scale now returns to Molveno in a format that brings Elite ambition, Age Group depth, Youth racing, and open participation together across one weekend.

From the Age Group side, Carole Perrot connects the draw of XTERRA to discovering “new destinations and very natural trails,” adding that “the level is high” and that it is “very motivating to run in such a big atmosphere.” For Julian Anguera, the youth side of the weekend is equally clear, with the European Championship standing as “a major event” for cross-triathlon and a meaningful point in the pathway for the next generation.

The strongest presence will come from Italy on home ground, but the weekend carries a wide European core with athletes from France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Croatia, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Hungary. The field also extends beyond Europe, with athletes from the United States, Brazil, South Africa, and French Polynesia adding to the international character of the event.

One of the clearest early signals comes from the youngest athletes, with those aged 19 and under currently forming the largest registration group when measured against each decade-based age range. That gives the weekend a strong Youth Tour presence and places the next generation directly alongside the Elite and Age Group races rather than outside the main story of the championship.

Some athletes will arrive looking for European titles, some for World Championship qualification, some for World Cup points, and others for the chance to race in one of XTERRA’s most established alpine venues. Families will come for the weekend, local supporters will gather along the lakefront, younger athletes will watch the professionals up close, and open racers will have their own way into the same atmosphere through the Sunset Run, Sprint, Super Sprint, and Kids Races.

The result is a championship that feels like a full weekend of movement. The front of the race carries the sharpest pressure, but the life of the event comes from everyone around it: athletes walking bikes through the village, parents supporting and relaxing beside the lake, kids waiting for their own start, teams gathering near the race village, and supporters following the sound of the course as it moves from the water toward the mountains and back again.

The Full Distance Triathlon on June 20 will cover a 1.5K swim, 32K mountain bike, and 10K trail run, with the Sprint Triathlon also taking place that day over a 750m swim, 16K bike, and 5K run. June 21 brings the Super Sprint over 400m, 8K, and 2.7K, alongside Short Track on a 0.4K swim, 8K bike, and 3K run course designed to keep the final day fast and close to the race village.

Molveno’s course identity comes from the way the lake gives the race its opening image and the beauty of the route ahead never removes the difficulty. The bike moves into long climbing and technical descending, with the kind of terrain that requires patience, handling, and the ability to stay composed when the course begins to bite. The run keeps the race alive all the way to the end, moving through sections that shift underfoot just when athletes are searching for something steady.

Renell Brennan calls it “proper mountain biking,” pointing to the upper lake section, the downhill drop into the infamous Blade Runner descent, and terrain that is “switchbacky and jungly,” while also bringing the race back to the people around it by saying the community is one of the main reasons she keeps coming back. Arthur Serrières describes Molveno as “a bit of everything but the hard way,” with a crowded swim, a bike course that is “literally a big climb and a downhill,” and a run that moves through “flat, up, down, turns.”

Felix Forissier sees the run as the part of the race that leaves the least room to hide. “For me, the biggest challenge is the running segment; in Molveno, it’s an extremely demanding part of the race that leaves no room for any weak moments,” he says, adding that effort management becomes central because “victory doesn’t always go to the strongest, but often to the smartest.” Marta Menditto gives the bike-run combination another layer, calling Molveno “a really specific race” with almost 40 minutes of uphill twice without stopping, followed by a run with “flat parts, muddy parts, uphills, technical sections.”

For Marianne Mendiara, “the mountains, landscape around the lake” are what make the experience feel special, while Ulrika Eriksson describes it as “the perfect adventure” in “a magnificent and beautiful environment.” Those impressions are part of why the venue has stayed with athletes. Molveno is hard enough to decide titles, but beautiful enough to make the effort feel tied to the place rather than separated from it.

Youth racing will carry real weight in Molveno, with Youth A, Youth B, and Junior athletes from ages 14-19 racing inside the same championship environment as the Elite and Age Group fields. With 30 Youth World Championship slots available for Ruidoso, the weekend becomes both a European title race and a pathway toward the next global stage.

Minna Li Mäesepp of Estonia says the draw of XTERRA is tied to both the racing and the environment around it. She enjoys the sport “because of the nature and the community,” and while she is also training for World Triathlon races, “the people and the atmosphere” are what make XTERRA feel special. Her goals remain competitive, but not limited to results. “Of course I’d love to be on the podium, but for me it’s also about the experience,” she says, adding that the course in Molveno was “fun, challenging” and worth returning to.

Her brother Maru Mäesepp connects his preparation to time outside, saying he enjoys training in the forests at home, especially in summer when the weather is good, because “it’s a great place to prepare and spend time outside.” Returning to Molveno also gives him the chance to meet new friends, see familiar competitors again, and come back with a better sense of the course after racing in Germany and at last year’s European Championship.

That is the youth story inside the weekend. It is competitive, but it is also social, outdoors, and tied to the feeling of discovering what the sport can become. A European Championship gives young athletes a target, and Molveno gives them the wider memory of enjoying the moment by the lake, seeing the Elite field up close, and being part of an international weekend that still feels personal.

This is the fifth stop of the 2026 XTERRA World Cup, bringing the season-long points race into the same weekend as the European Championship. After four of seven stops, Michele Bonacina of Italy leads the men’s standings with 447 points, followed by fellow Italian Federico Spinazzè, Nicolas Duré of France, Arthur Forissier of France, and Maxim Chané of France. On the women’s side, Marta Menditto of Italy has built the strongest position so far with 561 points, ahead of Emma Ducreux of France, Isla Hedley of Great Britain, Hannah Lee Young of Australia, and Lorena Erl of Germany.

The Full Distance race in Molveno now becomes a key point in the middle of the series, with championship pressure and World Cup strategy landing on the same course. Bonacina and Menditto arrive as the current leaders, both racing on Italian ground with the chance to strengthen their positions before the series moves on to the Czech Republic and then Suzhou, China for the finale. Menditto, already leading the World Cup, also returns to a course she knows well, while Hedley, Ducreux, Kerri-Ann Upham, Romy Spoelder, and Lorena Erl remain central names in the women’s race.

The men’s field brings the same kind of depth, with Bonacina and Spinazzè carrying the strongest Italian presence in the standings, while Duré, Arthur Forissier, Chané, Sébastien Carabin, Morgan Rhodes, Scott Anderson, and Lukas Maes all sit inside the wider World Cup picture. Molveno will also bring the season debut of three-time XTERRA World Champion Arthur Serrières of France, adding another major name to a field that already includes Felix Forissier and Arthur Forissier, two athletes capable of changing the race from the front.

The women’s race also gets another major addition with Alizée Paties of France, the 2023 XTERRA World Cup Champion, set to make her first World Cup start of the season. Her return adds another layer to a field already shaped by Menditto’s consistency, Hedley’s rise, Ducreux’s position near the top of the standings, and the pressure of a European Championship course that gives little away. With Full Distance points on June 20 and Short Track following one day later, Molveno now becomes one of the most important weekends of the World Cup season so far.

The Elite Full Distance race will crown the 2026 XTERRA European Champions and contribute to the XTERRA World Cup standings, giving the pro field a major points opportunity before the weekend turns toward Short Track on June 21. The women are scheduled for 14:00 CEST, 12:00 UTC, followed by the men at 15:00 CEST, 13:00 UTC.

Short Track changes the atmosphere because the race comes closer to the crowd. The format is shorter, sharper, and easier to follow from the race village, with transitions, attacks, mistakes, and recoveries happening quickly enough for spectators to feel the race building in front of them. After the Full Distance has sent athletes deep into the terrain around Molveno, Short Track brings the intensity back toward the lakefront and gives the final day a different kind of energy.

The Super Sprint and Kids Races also take place on June 21, making the final day feel wider than the Elite race alone. Children, youth athletes, open racers, professionals, families, and supporters all witness the playful side of a sport that keeps making room for people to join in.

For those following from home, Short Track coverage will be available with highlights, behind-the-scenes updates, and race-week coverage shared through XTERRA Europe on Instagram. Current rankings, race details, and World Cup updates will be available through the dedicated World Cup Stop 5 page for all pro level happenings inside Molveno, Trentino, Italy.