The stage is officially set and the path clearly laid out for the next pair of champions to claim the title that lies waiting at the end of the toughest competition in off-road triathlon – the XTERRA World Cup. In 2023 the condensed series took XTERRA pro racing to unprecedented levels, with more pros pitted against each other than ever before leading to some of the most historic battles ever seen in XTERRA racing, and ultimately setting the stage for a tantalising 2024 series. 

‍Arthur Serrières and Alizée Paties sit at the top of the pile as the reigning champions, but they’ll have their work cut out for them in 2024 as the competition rises and new rules leave no room for a bad day between the tape. Names that will undoubtedly have their eye on the title in just the second year of the series include the formidable Felix Forissier who came within inches of becoming a double-champ in 2023 and Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen who became arguably the most exciting racer in the series after overtaking more athletes than any other pro racer. Solenne Billouin is another, the world Champion will carry a dangerous amount of confidence after the dominant second half of the series she had and the equally dominant win she recorded at the XTERRA World Championship. 

But as Billouin will know, it’s not a single race that wins the World Cup – it’s consistency. The 2024 XTERRA World Cup is a 7-stop, 11-race series, awarding points to top performers in both Full distance and Short Track races, and ultimately crowning the most consistently strong XTERRA elite athlete the world over. It’s a rough ride, which is exactly what makes it so good, and it starts once again with a rude awakening on the single most demanding course the XTERRA circuit has to offer. 

Dates, Locations & Livestream Races

Taiwan is set to once again get the series underway with its notoriously brutal course through the southern mountains of the island, and Italy will again have the honour of closing the show as Trentino prepares to host the XTERRA World Champs one final time. But the 5 stops between the opener and closer will present the biggest shake up of terrains and pressure as Greece and Quebec make their debut in the series. As Czech’s hosting of the European Champs sets the stage for a landmark showdown at the penultimate stop before Italy, it will without question set up a monstrous finish to the series.

‍7 Full Distance races and 4 Short Track races will decide the 2024 XTERRA World Cup winner. 100 points for a Full Distance win and 75 for the made-for-TV Short Track format. Every race counts, with the name at the top of the leaderboard after stop #7 claiming the title of 2024 XTERRA World Cup Champion. 

‍Stop #1: Taiwan

Date: March 23

Races: Full Distance

Livestream: Full Distance

‍Back to where it all began when the series debuted in 2023, Taiwan is a course that takes no prisoners. The bodies strewn on the ground just metres after the finish line and the amount of athletes that will see this race as a redemption race are testament to what this course will take from even the best of the best. 

‍This is where Alizée Paties posted the first of her many wins and where Arthur Forissier delivered a clinical win in the final kilometres of the race. But behind them lay a path of destruction with a completely depleted Solenne Billouin and Ruben Ruzafa having given absolutely everything only to miss the top step of the podium by the narrowest of margins. Felix Forrisier and Maxim Chané rode out the final 10K’s on flat tires to salvage points, and an unacclimated Arthur Serrières was stunned into a 7th position finish under the heat and humidity of the tropical island. 

‍It’s a raw, rough and rugged course with the livestream set to capture it all as the series gets started on March 23.

‍Stop #2: Greece

Date: April 27

Races: Full Distance‍

The first of the newcomers to the series in 2024, Greece debuts as the first of 3 European stops on the tour and is likely to draw some of the biggest names in a race that will be defined by sheer speed. The seaside town of Vouliagmeni presents a fast and furious course with no time to recover from even the slightest mistake. Many of the pros will have raced here before, but what is sure to make things interesting is that none of them would have pushed it at the speed required to win a World Cup race. 

‍Emma Ducreux, Arthur Forissier and Arthur Serrières have all claimed the gold on this course before, but who will first lay claim the title under World Cup conditions will only be seen come April 27. 

‍Stop #3: Oak Mountain

Date: May 18 / 19

Races: Full Distance / Short Track

Livestream: Short Track

‍The return to Blood Rock will be the first of 4 double-feature events, where only the top 30 athletes of either the Full Distance race or the series leaderboard will determine who lines up to score additional points in the Short Track race. 

‍The course in Oak Mountain is famed for its fast and flowing trails, with long stretches of narrow singletrack through thick forest, making it difficult to see who lies just ahead or just behind. It was here last year that Arthur Serrières, Eric Lagerstrom, and Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen produced an absolute screamer of a finish, and where Alizée Paties let the world know that she meant business by making it 2 FD wins in a row. 

‍This year, however, will be different. More points for Short Track races will reward those who have enough gas in the tank to go full throttle through both races. Serrières made it 2 for 2 at Oak Mountain last year when he broke the tape in both races, but there will be many who will do almost anything to stop the famously fast Frenchman getting that much of a jump on the leaderboard this time around. ‍

Stop #4: Belgium

Date: June 8

Races: Full Distance 

‍Stop #4 returns to the Citadel of Namur, a race that comes with so much history in both location and racing. It was on these cobblestone streets, below the towering fortress, that Felix Forissier and Loanne Duvoisin stamped their names into the books last year, claiming maximum points in the Full Distance race and the title of XTERRA European Champions. 

‍This course is a grind, starting with an upstream swim against the current of the ​​Meuse River and a 35K bike loop that opens immediately with a gruelling climb up past the Citadel and into the mountain trails that lie on the outskirts of the city. Big engines win this race, as Forissier and Duvoisin showed last year, and without a Short Track race to worry about there is no reason not to open the tank when the action begins this time round.

‍Stop #5: Quebec

Date: July 12 / 14

Races: Short Track / Full Distance 

‍When Quebec rings in a decade of XTERRA racing this year, it will do so with its most competitive start list yet as the course makes its debut in the World Cup series. It also enters the series as the second double-feature stop, with the Short Track race putting on a proper elite racing show on the 12th before the pros go to war once again in the Full Distance race on the 14th. 

‍The Short Track race will be the first of the condensed format to ever be held at the event, leaving no athlete the advantage of prior race experience. ‍

The FD race will also undoubtedly be an interesting one, with the northern trail mecca serving up a course that will have athletes digging deep into their arsenal of skills to stay ahead. The race begins with a 1.5K swim in the waters of the Lac Delage before heading into the 2-loop, 32K bike course that will throw everything a trail can at those looking to conquer it the fastest - from technical climbing sections to fast and flowing singletrack sections and a healthy amount of rocks and roots thrown in for good measure. The run is no easy finish either, leaving plenty of room for those who burned it too hard on the bike to throw it away in the final 10K. 

‍Stop #6: Czech

Date: August 10-11

Races: Full Distance / Short Track

Livestream: Short Track

‍XTERRA’s oldest race is notorious for serving up something special, and this year will be no different as the penultimate stop of the series combines with the European Championship race to set up what will surely be the kind of finish only World Cup racing can produce. 

‍Europe dominates the top section of the XTERRA rankings and the start list of the championship race has consistently been the single most competitive outside of the World Championship. When the series touches down in Prachatice, it will be for the chance to add a potential 175 points to the tally through the Full Distance and Short track races – a significant bump that could alleviate a lot of pressure as the series heads to the final stop. 

‍The courage to take risks will surely be a significant factor as taking risks is exactly what is needed for a podium finish here. Many will remember that both Sandra Mairhofer and Arthur Forissier went down hard here in 2023, and a similar fall for any athlete this year could mean sitting out the biggest race of the year.

Stop #7: Trentino

Date: September 26-28

Races: Full Distance / Short Track

Livestream: Full Distance / Short Track‍

The series ends once again in Italy as Trentino completes its trilogy of World Championships – a double-feature stop with the final Short Track race of the series playing out on the world stage before the Full Distance race decides the season and the series. ‍

What a race it would be if Arthur Serrières and Solenne Billouin had to complete the hat trick of World Championship wins in Italy, or if Felix Forissier had to claim the title he came so close putting his name on, or if Alizée Paties could turn silver into gold. The list goes on. ‍

But there is a lot of racing to get through before Trentino, with new battles sure to emerge and new names rising to the top to lead the pro end of XTERRA racing. Seven stops will decide the series, and come September 28, the World Cup trophy will have two additional names engraved. 

Important Scoring Changes for 2024

Last year saw the series decided by a complex system of differently weighted FD races, underweighted ST scores, and a calculation of every athlete’s top 4 FD scores, and top 3 ST scores. The result was constant calculations throughout the series, never ending what ifs, and a leaderboard that only really offered real significance in the final 2 races when all athletes achieved their 4 FD and 3 ST races. 

‍This year will be very different with the new ‘all races count rule’ simplifying the scoring system tenfold for both athletes and fans. For 2024, all FD races come with a max of 100 points (see here for top 10 point breakdown), ST races have been boosted from 20 points to 75, and every race counts no matter what – no more jokers. At any given time in the series, the name at the top of the pile is the name to beat. 

If the 2023 results are applied to the 2024 system, Serrières and Paties still take it. But the heartache and frustration that come with injuries and mechanicals will be far more real this year, just like they are in so many other sport series, yet so too are the opportunities for those who have been waiting in the wings to take their place at the top. Those consistently finding the podium, such as Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen and Loanne Duvoisin, will benefit from the change, yet balance comes in the form of the new point breakdown that places a slightly larger reward for taking gold than before. The rule comes as part of the evolution of the series, and by the looks of things, 2024 is set to be a big one.