The Off-Road Republic

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Of the many things the Czechs do better than anyone else, putting on an XTERRA race may just be one of them. On and off the course, the notorious ‘Czech Mafia’ has been delivering an increasingly better race experience every year for almost 20 straight years, somehow managing to raise the bar every time. It’s rough and rowdy, just as much a show as it is a race - something the thousands of spectators that turn up each year will attest to - and easily one of the most anticipated stops on the series. 

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Atmosphere aside, the Full Distance course stands alone as having the only point-to-point bike courses on the series. The race begins in the waters of Ktis Lake before heading into a challenging point-to-point 33K bike segment of old panel roads from the 60s, the forested trails of the Golden Salt Path, and sleek singletrack, before ending in a 2-lap 10K run that finishes in the town square of the mediaeval village of Prachatice. It’s a course that demands risk taking and last time out those risks were costly. Arthur Forissier and Sandra Mairhofer both went down hard, with Forissier ending his campaign with a broken collarbone and Mairhofer forced to miss the following stop. 

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Yet the spills of 2023 will do little to slow the pace of 2024. This year the race doubles as the European Championship, and that means a lot to those at the top of the most competitive region. It’s often said that the European Championship is a dress rehearsal for the XTERRA World Championship, so expect the exact same amount of intensity from the European contingent that will show up in mass and ready to battle.