Photo gallery and recap: Solenne Billouin and Arthur Serrieres take third straight Xterra World Championship titles
The Xterra World Championship celebrates three years at the spectacular course in the Italian Dolomites
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Xterra
Three years ago the Xterra World Championship was moved from its traditional home in Maui, Hawaii to the spectacular UNESCO World Heritage-listed Brenta Dolomites near Molveno, Trentino, Italy. The world championship event caps the off-road series’ Xterra World Cup, too, and featured 1,000 qualifiers from 52 different countries.
Thanks to cool temperatures (10 C air temperature and 14 degree water temps), the swim was shortened to 750 m, followed by a challenging 32 km mountain bike with 1,034 m of climbing for each of the two loops and a two-loop 5 km run with 288 m of climbing.
Three-peats for the champions
France’s Arthur Serrieres and Solenne Billouin continued their winning streak at the new world championship venue, each taking their third-straight Xterra World Championship.
Serrieres was fifth out of the water, 20 seconds behind swim leader Jens Roth (GER), and 19 seconds behind bike leader Felix Forissier (FRA) as he started the run. Serrieres would quickly pass his countryman during the early stages of the run and never look back as he surged to a convincing win.
Rachel Klamer (NED), fresh off her fourth Olympic appearance in Paris, led the women out of the water as Billouin hit T1 in seventh, 1:28 behind Klamer. Billouin was in front by the end of the first bike loop, hitting the second transition 50-seconds up on Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer. Billouin had the third-fastest run split to easily stay ahed of the rest of the field, finishing almost two minutes up on Mairhofer.
Top 10 Women’s Full Distance Results
1. Solenne Billouin (FRA) – 2:55:42
2. Sandra Mairhofer (ITA) – 2:57:34
3. Loanne Duvoisin (CHE) – 2:58:14
4. Alizée Paties (FRA) – 3:00:15
5. Aneta Grabmüller (CZE) – 3:08:06
6. Anna Zehnder (SUI) – 3:11:06
7. Marta Menditto (ITA) – 3:13:19
8. Emma Ducreux (FRA) – 3:14:18
9. Rachel Klamer (NLD) – 3:15:42
10. Romy Spoelder (NLD) – 3:16:17
Top 10 Men’s Full Distance Results
1. Arthur Serrières (FRA) – 2:26:31
2. Felix Forissier (FRA) – 2:27:45
3. Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen (DNK) – 2:31:06
4. Maxim Chané (FRA) – 2:34:44
5. Josiah Middaugh (USA) – 2:36:48
6. Sébastien Carabin (BEL) – 2:37:40
7. Sullivan Middaugh (USA) – 2:38:47
8. Baptiste Fordoxcel (FRA) – 2:40:01
9. Jules Dumas (FRA) – 2:41:31
10. Richard Murray (NLD) – 2:43:16
The setting for the race is certainly spectacular – as proved by the photos below courtesy of Xterra and taken by Carol Du Plessis and Alice Russolo:
