No mistakes this time. Felix Forissier has stamped his name firmly on the Full Distance race in Oak Mountain, bagging the 100 series points to extend his lead at the top of the pile. Riding to the front of the race and heading into the final section in the lead, the Frenchman then laid down the fastest run of the day to catch some well-earned breathing room at the top of the leaderboard.
Defending World Cup Champion Arthur Serrières crossed just 50 seconds behind his on-course rival to now move up into 5th position in the overall rankings, while Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen’s return to the podium in 3rd sees him move up into 2nd place.
Sandra Mairhofer will have a lot to celebrate after a convincing win in the women’s race. The Italian put her renowned bike skills to work, opening up a large gap as she led into the final 11K. Despite a late surge from the reigning World Champ that would see the gap close by over a minute, Mairhofer was never in danger of losing the lead, claiming the 100 series points to move into 5th place in the series.
Solenne Billouin’s 2nd place finish is more than enough the French athlete to hold on to the series lead and the golden cap for tomorrow’s Short Track race, while Alizée Paties’s 3rd place sees her now stand alone in 2nd after coming into stop #3 in a tied 2nd place with Czech’s Aneta Grabmüller.
Tomorrow the battles continue in the fast-paced Short Track race, where a max 75 points could see even more changes in the overall rankings as the 2024 World Cup series nears the half way mark.
After riding a large section of the bike course on a flat tire yesterday, Solenne Billouin has finally shaken the curse of the mechanical in Oak Mountain, laying down a strong performance in the Short Track to extend her lead at the top of the leaderboard. The World Champ walks away with the increased 75 points to create a comfortable gap between her and the rest of the field ahead of stop #4 in Belgium.
Aneta Grabmüller’s lightning-fast swim and strong bike performance saw her lead into the final section, with only the World Champ able to run her down. Grabmüller’s 2nd place finish sees her move within 13 points of Alizée Paties who holds her place in the rankings after finishing 3rd.
Arthur Serrières broke the tape for the first time this year, defending his Short Track title in Oak Mountain to show some serious intent in the series. The reigning World Cup Champion chose not to race Taiwan in favour of a longer training, but after taking 3rd in Greece, 2nd in the Full Distance yesterday, and 1st in the Short Track, he is now back on track to contend for overall win in the series.
Felix Forissier closed out in 2nd to keep his position at the top, while Arthur Forissier’s 3rd place finish sees him move back up to 2nd on the leaderboard, but only with a slim 3 points separating him and Denmark’s Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen in 3rd.
For a detailed breakdown of how stop #3 played out in Oak Mountain, read the Full Distance race report here or watch the Short Track live replay here. But for now, let’s discuss what these results mean for those in strong contention for the series win, starting with the women’s Short Track winner.
The big concern for the women’s field coming into stop #3 was that, if Solenne Billouin had to keep her perfect score by winning both races in Oak Mountain, the World Champ would have forged an insurmountable lead in the series. That didn’t happen as her bad luck on these trails dragged into a second year when she flatted in almost the exact same place as 2023, but her decision to back herself and keep pushing at full speed was a clear demonstration of just how strong the Frenchwoman is, and just how committed she is to keeping her place in the series.
With almost 20K still to go on the bike, Billouin rode with no air in her back tire, relying on just the inserts she had chosen to install to avoid the worst case scenario. When that happened, she powered on, betting big on herself to hold enough pace on the bike and make time back on the run. It was a move that deserves serious respect, and her efforts were well rewarded with a 2nd place finish, allowing her to qualify for the Short Track where she cleaned up to take maximum points in round 2.
Billouin is now 52 points ahead of 2nd place. It’s not an insurmountable lead, but it will take something special to run that lead down. If she can end this season as a double-champion with a hat-trick of World Championship wins to her name, her legacy as one of the strongest women the sport has ever seen will be well on its way to being carved in stone.
But if there is one person that could rain on the World Champions’s parade this year, it’s Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer. Between Billouin’s mechanical in the Full Distance and Mairhofer’s fall in the Short Track, it’s massively unfortunate that we were robbed of the chance to see these two go properly head to head. When Mairhofer and Billouin (and their bikes) are both on form, they deliver some of the best battles the sport has seen. It may not have happened in Oak Mountain, but it does seem inevitable in the races to come.
Mechanical’s aside, Mairhofer put down a race winning performance on Saturday that Billouin would unlikely have matched. She has one race less than others making up her tally so it seems like a stretch that she would chase down Billouin in the World Cup. But already in 5th position, she could work herself up into a podium position and enter the World Championship as the biggest threat to Billouin’s Italian three-peat.
Felix Forissier is another name that could put an end to the dream of a World Championship three-peat. In just a short space of time this season, he now seems like the betting favourite when it comes to Full Distance racing. It was another clinical performance by the current series leader on Saturday, exiting the water in the chase pack and hunting down the race leader before they’d even hit the first section of singletrack. Keeping pace with the likes of Arthur Serrières and Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen as they headed into T2, the younger Forissier was still able to open the taps and claim the win almost a minute ahead of the current World Champ.
However, despite taking 2nd place, Forissier never looked comfortable in the Short Track race, likely from pushing as hard as he did in the Full Distance. Whereas the same cannot be said of Arthur Serrières who claimed the win with time to spare. This is the first time the World Champion has tasted victory this season, and he may now just be hitting his stride. A 3rd in Greece, 2nd in Oak Mountain Full Distance, and a 1st in the Short Track will be a worrying trajectory for Forissier and everybody else in the men's field as a determined in-form Serrières can be almost impossible to stop. In 2023 he became the first ever double-champ in XTERRA history, and will likely stop at nothing to do it again.
And finally, Czech’s Aneta Grabmüller will surely have mixed feelings as she leaves Alabama. Bike issues that got overlooked in the pre-race bike check cost her heavily in the Full Distance as she drained her energy to push through the 33K loop to hold on to a 6th place finish. One of the biggest breakout athletes of the year, she will be disappointed to have given up her tied 2nd place in the rankings as she drops down to 3rd. But a strong showing in the Short Track race where she came in just 18 seconds behind the leader will give her confidence that she can still bounce back as her battle with the reigning World Cup Champion Alizée Paties, now in 2nd overall, looks locked in for the rest of the series.
Belgium is next, where stop #4 officially brings an end to the first half of the series, and a time to start making moves for anybody looking to close out the series with a place on the podium.
The talk all week has been just how good this bike course is to ride. Not all that difficult to ride slowly, but add some speed and it becomes a beast. Brake, corner, sprint, repeat. If you save half a second in each corner, you can be minutes ahead by the end of the lap. The battles in this section will be intense, with no time to take a foot off the gas.
But the weather could throw a huge curveball. It’s been dry all week but now it’s looking like a big storm could roll in to completely change the conditions of the course. Only a handful of the top athletes have experience on these trails in the wet, which could shake things up quite a bit. But taking on the elements is all part of the game, and also one of the biggest reasons why nothing is ever a given when it comes to XTERRA racing.
Tomorrow we go between the tape for stop #3 of the XTERRA World Cup, with 44.5K of tough racing set to decide who adds the max 100 points to their tally. Check out the course map below to see what XTERRA’s best will be up against, and be sure to follow on IG for updates from on the ground in Oak Mountain, Alabama.
Eric Lagerstrom is onsite, with the accomplished roadie setting up two very tantalising side battles within the race. This is the US athlete’s favourite XTERRA course, especially the fast and flowing bike course that is tailor made to his style of riding. Last year he came within inches of winning here in Oak Mountain, proving that he has what it takes to challenge the world’s best on these trails.
The first battle is with World Champion Arthur Serrières, as they prepare for round 2 in Oak Mountain. In 2023, Lagerstrom took the champ down to the wire, with Serrières eventually getting ahead on the run to take the win by just 38 seconds. Now that they have experience going head to head on this course, it will be interesting to see how part 2 plays out on Saturday.
The second battle will be between the three local heroes, Eric Lagerstom and the Middaugh duo, as they look to add the first-ever North American Championship crown to their list of accolades. It’s the first XTERRA race for all three this season, making it impossible to know the form they’re in. But for these three, national pride may just outweigh the value of series points as they prepare to go to battle with almost equal chances of emerging as the 2024 North American Champ.
The World Cup series has officially touched down in Alabama, USA, with current and former champs such as Sullivan and Josiah Middaugh and Suzie Snyder now playing host to the large Euro and APAC contingents that have made the long trip over. The weather over the last few days has served up near-perfect conditions on the trails, with the bike course running ultra fast for those out finding their lines.
Series leader Solenne Billouin is looking as confident as ever as she looks to get some redemption on this course in Oak Mountain. Last time out, the World Champ suffered a mechanical in the Full Distance race that effectively put her out of the runnings for the Short Track , leaving her with a zero-point haul here in Alabama. This time round she comes prepared with a heavier bike set up that should be enough to avoid a repeat of 2023.
Felix Forissier is also looking in good spirits as he prepares to defend his lead at the top. The mishaps of Greece are clearly in the past, with the European Champ now looking ahead to a race where he’ll need to keep a close eye on his older brother. Arthur Forissier is just 8 points behind, meaning if they both finish in the top three and Arthur crosses ahead of Felix, Arthur becomes the new series leader.
A venue that almost seems as if it was created entirely just for off-road triathlon. Between the clear waters of Double Oak Lake and the world-class trails of Oak Mountain, Stop #3 has just about everything an off-road triathlete could ask for: a pristine lake swim, an epic bike loop that balances fast and flowing sections with a healthy portion of climbing, and absolutely no shortage of singletrack on the run to the finish. But with limited sections that allow for clear passing, strategy will be key for the 50+ pro athletes set to battle it out on the course.
This is where the first off-road vs on-road battle of 2023 came down to the absolute wire when Arthur Serrières edged out Eric Lagerstrom by just 22 seconds, and in 2024 we’ll get to see the rematch with both athletes locked in for round two. The current World Cup Champion will be looking for nothing less than a win as he hopes to break into the top 5, but he’ll be up against a tougher field than last year with both Forissiers and a far more threatening Sullivan Middaugh ready to go to battle. It’s a similar story in the women’s race, where a repeat of last year would be a welcome result for the World Cup Champ Alizée Paties as she looks to gain back some ground on series leader Solenne Billouin. But this year brings a far more formidable startlist, including the surging Aneta Grabmüller and the heavily-credentialed Sandra Mairhofer.
This will also be the first double-feature stop of the series and this year that means a lot more. The new scoring system gives almost as much weight to the Short Track race as it does to the Full Distance. FD races now come with 100 max points and ST races with a massive 75, therefore a good showing in both could mean a significant jump up the leaderboard, while a poor performance in either could lead to a significant drop.
Only the top 25 elite male and female finishers will qualify for the Short Track race, with the remaining 5 places awarded to wild card athletes with enough speed and skill to push the pace of the race up front and disrupt the status quo. Both races will be streamed LIVE on YouTube on May 19 at 9:00am CT.
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