More than 60 of the fastest XTERRA racers in the world will line-up for the $100,000 showdown at the 24th annual XTERRA World Championship in Maui set for October 27th,
The top five elite men from last year’s race will return, four of whom have won it before; Rom Akerson from Costa Rica (2018), Bradley Weiss from South Africa (2017), Josiah Middaugh from the U.S. (2015), and Ruben Ruzafa from Spain (2008/2013-2014).
Those are your race favorites, and while it’ll be tough to stop any of them, many will try, starting with Sam Osborne from New Zealand, who was in that top five last year. He finished third just behind Rom and Brad and ahead of Ruben and Josiah. This year the Kiwi posted six wins and took home the Pan Am Championship.
The intrigue comes from across the pond, where the “two Arthurs” from France took the XTERRA European Tour by storm. Arthur Forissier won the ITU Cross Tri World Title in April, then XTERRA Garda, Switzerland, and the big one at XTERRA France. But just when he looked poised to run the table Arthur Serrieres stole the spotlight with wins at the XTERRA European Championship in the Czech Republic, then XTERRA Germany two weeks later. His run speed is outrageous, and he won the Euro Tour title.
There are others who have had breakout seasons, like Canada’s Karsten Madsen who had a strong second half and looks to be firing on all cylinders, Maxim Chane has shown signs of brilliance and seems destined for gold, and Brice Daubord who took home the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour title.
It’s an all-star cast, and anyone who breaks into the top 10 outside this group would have had themselves a day to remember. We’ll dig deeper into the contenders list in the weeks to come, but until then, here’s a look at the tentative elite men’s start list:
XTERRA Worlds Elite Men
Bib#/Position at 2018 Worlds - Name NAT
1/1 - Rom Akerson CRC
2/2 - Bradley Weiss RSA
3/3 - Sam Osborne NZL
4/4 - Ruben Ruzafa ESP
5/5 - Josiah Middaugh USA
6/7 - Karsten Madsen CAN
7/8 - Maxim Chane FRA
8/12 - Pierrick Page FRA
9/17 - Will Ross USA
10/20 - Samuel Jud SUI
11/23 - Branden Rakita USA
12/24 - Geert Lauryssen BEL
14 - Ben Allen AUS
15 - Alejandro Bulacio ARG
16 - Dean Cane AUS
17 - Taylor Charlton AUS
18 - Xavier Dafflon SUI
19 - Brice Daubord FRA
20 - Mathieu Desserprit FRA
21 - Rui Dolores POR
22 - Karel Dusek CZE
23 - Cedric Fleureton FRA
24 - Arthur Forissier FRA
25 - Chad Hall USA
26 - Ryan Ignatz USA
27 - Tom Kerner GER
28 - Andy Lee GBR
29 - Peter Lehmann GER
30 - Sebastian Neef GER
31 - Evan Pardi USA
32 - Filippo Rinaldi ITA
33 - Edmond Roy CAN
34 - Arthur Serrieres FRA
35 - Benny Smith USA
36 - Brad Zoller USA
In the women’s elite race four-time winner Flora Duffy from Bermuda strives for five, but reigning and 3x Champ Lesley Paterson has plans of her own.
The "Scottish Rocket" outran the women's field by four-minutes last month at the XTERRA Pan Am Championship and has been champing at the bit to get to Maui ever since.
Those two will be up against Europe’s best with Morgane Riou from France who won four races including the European Championship, Helena Karaskova from the Czech Republic who won her fifth Euro Tour title, the young gun Loanne Duvoisin from Switzerland who won the overall amateur title just a few years back, and Carina Wasle from Austria who won the Asia-Pacific Tour this year.
And the contenders list just rolls from there with Jacqui Allen from the UK and Penny Slater from Australia who had big wins, the XTERRA Pan Am Tour Champ Samantha Kingsford and the speedy Lizzie Orchard from New Zealand who are real threats, and American aces Suzie Snyder and Julie Baker who are always in the mix.
We’ll get their thoughts and delve deeper into the women’s elite race in the weeks to come. Here’s who will toe the line come October 27, 2019:
XTERRA Worlds Elite Women
Bib#/Position at 2018 Worlds - Name NAT
51/1 - Lesley Paterson GBR
52/3 - Lizzie Orchard NZL
53/4 - Suzie Snyder USA
54/6 - Carina Wasle AUT
55/7 - Julie Baker USA
56/9 - Penny Slater AUS
57/14 - Katie Button CAN
58 - Jacqui Allen GBR
59 - Maria Calleja ESP
60 - Valentina Carvallo CHI
61 - Jamie Chapoteau USA
62 - Flora Duffy BER
63 - Loanne Duvoisin SUI
64 - Amanda Felder USA
65 - Isabelle Ferrer FRA
66 - Maia Ignatz USA
67 - Helena Karaskova CZE
68 - Samantha Kingsford NZL
69 - Adriana Klimkova CZE
70 - Kara LaPoint USA
71 - Brittany Oliver USA
72 - Alizee Paties FRA
73 - Morgane Riou FRA
74 - Erika Simon ARG
75 - Janni Spangsberg DEN
76 - Pavlina Vargova CZE