Germany

Serrières and Paties Make It a Clean Sweep in Germany

Arthur Serrières and Alizée Paties have both walked away with maximum points at Stop #5 in Germany, first blitzing the Short Track yesterday and then proving unbeatable once again in the Full Distance today. We always knew big shake ups in the rankings were coming in these three back-to-back weekends of racing, and today that became a reality.

The battle of the day and the battle to watch ahead is without doubt Arthur Serrières vs Felix Forissier. The two went shoulder to shoulder throughout the majority of the course to finish almost within 10 seconds of each other to move to the top of the ranklings. Serrières is the new series leader with Forissier only 12 points behind in 2nd. Previous leader Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen moves down to 3rd, but only 11 points behind Forissier. None of the top 3 are set to race at Stop #6, meaning this score will be settled in the series finale beneath the Brenta Dolomites.

It was another strong win for Alizée Paties, coming in just over 3 minutes ahead of Loanne Duvoisin and almost 6 minutes ahead of Solenne Billouin. The result does not change the order of the top 3 but it has narrowed the gaps, with just 31 points separating 1st and 3rd. And just like the men, then next time these top 3 go to battle will be in Trentino, Italy, where it could go down to the absolute wire with nothing less than a podium finish required. Read the full race recap here.

Alizée Paties and Arthur Serrières Open Stop #5 with Short Track Win

It was complete redemption for Alizée Paties in the opening race of Stop #5 after ending the Short Track race in Czech with no points and a broken set of handlebars. Paties finished 1st to keep her place at the top of the leaderboard while Arthur Serrières claimed his second Short Track win in a row and third of the series.

It was a shoulder-to-shoulder showdown between series leader Alizée Paties and World Champion Solenne Billouin almost immediately out of the water, passing Emma Ducreux to once again find themselves in a grinding battle in the front of the race. The two traded places on the bike before Paties slowly put on the squeeze and Billouin lost time with a fall in the rock garden. Paties eventually closed it out with almost 30 seconds to spare to keep her spot at the top of the leaderboard. Billouin’s silver finish sees her move into the top 3 of the series rankings, while 3rd place finisher Marta Menditto moves down into 4th.

Just like Czech, the men’s race was a full 30 minutes of continuous overtaking, with nobody doing more of that than series leader Jens Emil Sloth Niesen and Ruben Ruzafa. Jens Roth, Michele Bonacina, Lukáš Kočař, and Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen all took turns to lead the race, but in the end it was Arthur Serrières who proved just too fast on the feet. The Frenchman now moves within 30 points of the top spot in the rankings, with the Full Distance race still to come. Not letting up on the pressure, Felix Forissier claimed 3rd place to continue his streak of podium finishes and inch one step closer to to Serrières  and Sloth Nielsen at the top of the pile.

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Get the detailed race report here or, if you missed it, watch the full Germany Short Track replay here.

And in less than just 24 hours we find out who still has enough gas in the tank to take the Full Distance. There’s 100 series points on the line, which will make all the difference heading into the tail end of this series. Recovery is now everything with the Full Distance race starting tomorrow at 11:30 local time. Race updates will be coming in regularly on the XTERRA Europe IG with live timing available here.