Held amidst the Brenta Dolomites in Italy, the 2023 Xterra World Championship holds more weight this year, as it coincides with the culmination of the inaugural Xterra World Cup – a series designed to test elite athletes in a condensed circuit of 12 races.
According to off-road triathlon specialist Xterra… ‘The launch of the Xterra World Cup has changed the landscape of off-road triathlon in its opening year.
‘With the pros going shoulder to shoulder more times than ever before, the level of racing has risen significantly. The series has now come down to the wire for seven athletes who will fight to become the first ever double champion at the most contested Xterra World Championship in history.’
With 10 Xterra World Cup races so far this year, the series comes down to the wire with the final two races set for September 21 and 23 in Trentino, Italy.
With razor thin margins on the World Cup leaderboard, around seven athletes are within reach of becoming the first ever double-champion in Xterra history by winning the World Cup title and the World Championship title in the same year.
The 2023 Xterra World Championship is officially set to head back to Italy on September 23. Here, a total of 750 off-road triathletes will take to the shore of Lake Molveno.
56 nationalities will be represented in the World Championship race, coming from as far afield as Zimbabwe and Aruba. The French are showing up in numbers, with 144 athletes looking to bring championship crowns back to French soil.
Top contenders to win the 2023 Xterra World Championship
Top female contenders
Alizée Paties
Solenne Billouin
Sandra Mairhofer
Loanne Duvoisin
Marta Menditto
Top male contenders
Arthur Serrières
Felix Forissier
Ruben Ruzafa
Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen
Bradley Weiss
In the age group categories, a notable wave of newcomers (372 out of 750 athletes, including 111 women and 261 men), will be diving into the 2023 Xterra World Championship experience for the first time.
Xterra adds that the introduction of new qualifying races has not only broadened the participant base but has also elevated the calibre of racing, with an additional 13 countries represented in this year’s World Championship over the previous year.
The final Short Track race of the Xterra World Cup will play out on September 21 and will be livestreamed direct from Molveno, Italy, on the Xterra Watch Live page. The made-for-TV format will see 30 of the top men and women go head-to-head on the shortened course in a fight for World Cup points.
The fast-format World Cup race includes a 0.4K swim, 8K bike and a 3K sprint to the finish and is over in less than 40 minutes.
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