Race week is officially underway and already the Organicoach squad is out in full force. It’s as close as they'll get to a home race in this year’s World Cup and it looks like the entire squad is already looking for every inch of advantage they can get. The team is almost guaranteed a place somewhere on the podium this weekend with big hitters such as Alizée Paties (FRA), Marta Menditto (ITA), Michele Bonacina (ITA) and the man who will be racing on home turf, Sébastien Carabin, all looking to make an impact on the World Cup leaderboard.
Unfortunately Federico Spinazze (ITA) will not be on the starting line come Saturday. The winner of the 2022 XTERRA Sardegna long-distance race rolled his ankle at the Italian Cross Triathlon Champs last week, effectively ending his World Cup campaign before it began.
The weather looks like it could be a scorcher this weekend, which would be quite uncharacteristic for Northern Europe and could have a big effect on who the course favours. But a lot can change in a week.
A fitting venue for what could truly be a historic race as the second of the 3 continental championships is decided beneath the all-seeing Citadel of Namur. The XTERRA European Champion has long been one of the most coveted titles in a sport that is largely dominated by the region, but this time the battle for the crown amongst the European athletes arrives at a make-or-break point in the XTERRA World Cup, with a start list of athletes who simply do not break.
For some it’s the chance to solidify a lead that will be hard to lose, while others will be looking to finally make their mark in this World Cup as the series nears the half-way point. Championship pride aside, this will be a race of opportunity, survival and revenge.
Serrières is on a winning streak again and there’s not a single XTERRA fan who does not know how dangerous that is. Him and Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen will know what a win here will mean in the standings, but they’ll both be up against the full wrath of the men’s division. The in-form Arthur Forissier will no doubt be out to reclaim his lead while the lightning-fast Felix Forissier and Maxim Chané will be fuelled by pure revenge and redemption after their last outing in Taiwan. That’s not to even mention ‘the Boss’ Ruben Ruzafa, local hero Sébastien Carabin, Lukáš Kočař, or the USA’s Josiah Middaugh who was barely a minute off the pace in Oak Mountain and would love nothing more than to take maximum points at the first European stop of the series.
Alizée Paties will be acutely aware of what a win could do to solidify her lead, but just like Serrières, she’ll need to fend off some of the strongest women on the planet, each looking to make their mark and potentially dethrone the leader. Expect nothing short of fireworks up front between World Cup leader Alizée Paties, the XTERRA World Champion Solenne Billouin, and the XTERRA European Champion Sandra Mairhofer. Both Billouin and Mairhofer will not be pleased with their last World Cup outing and will be doing everything in their power to rectify the wrongs.
A double-feature event means more points and more money, and before the dust of the full-distance race has settled, the battles will begin again on the Short Track course. As Stop #3 of only 7, this is where the pace gets faster, the competition gets stronger, and everything is left out on the course.
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