Sullivan Middaugh gets on short-track podium at the XTERRA Trentino World Cup
The full-distance XTERRA World Championships will be at the same location on Saturday
Jesse Peters/Courtesy photo
When Sullivan Middaugh’s confidence is up, it doesn’t manifest itself in pre-race bulletin board material. It comes out on the race course.
After defending his XTERRA USA title on Aug. 26 — defeating three-time XTERRA world champion Ruben Ruzafa in the process — the 19-year-old EagleVail triathlete appeared emboldened at the final World Cup stop in Trentino, Italy, on Thursday.
Sitting in 10th-place after the 400-meter swim, Middaugh flew into first by the end of the 8-kilometer bike leg. Though he was caught in the 3-kilometer run, the former Battle Mountain star wound up with a bronze, just four-seconds behind the defending XTERRA world champion, Arthur Serrieres in second and 13 seconds behind winner, Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen.
“I had a really awesome swim and was right in the mix of a big pack right off the bat. And just started moving my way up until the run, where I fell back a few spots, but still a strong finish I think,” Middaugh said after crossing the line in 33 minutes and 47 seconds.
Athletes have battled for their share of a $340,000 prize purse throughout the seven stops and 12 races incapsulated in the inaugural XTERRA World Cup. The overall standings are calculated by adding athletes’ four best full-distance performances and three best short-track finishes plus their placement at the full-distance World Championships, which is Saturday in Trentino.
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On Thursday, German Jens Roth swam the quickest, but it was three-time world champion Ruben Ruzafa — runner-up to Middaugh less than a month ago — who broke things open on the second bike lap. His hard charge into first made it a five-person race between himself, Nielsen, Serrieres, Middaugh and Frenchman Theo Dupras. Even though the mix of relatively flat crushed gravel paths and curvy cyclocross-like grass sections weren’t as climber-friendly as his Beaver Creek home trails, Middaugh moved to the front of the group and pushed even faster.
“On the last lap I decided to go to the front,” he said. “I wanted to go into T2 first, kind of get a gap if I could. I did,(I) just didn’t hold on in the run.”
Middaugh was passed early into the run by Nielsen, who, though he currently sits in third in the overall standings, was still searching for his first event win. Serrieres — seeking his 25th-career XTERRA victory — moved in front of Middaugh shortly after and tracked the Danish athlete right until the race’s final turn. The Frenchman burst into first, but missed the turn for the finish chute.
“We wanted to go into that last turn in first place,” Nielsen said. “And Arthur went and he led us the wrong way, so we both slipped a bit and turned around and I guess he gave up because he lost five meters to me.”
A frustrated Serrieres jogged in behind Nielsen, with Middaugh coming home for bronze.
“Emil is a nice guy and he deserved to have a win this season because he’s always strong and always in front. I’m like a bit disappointed because I was expecting a nice sprint finish with this guy,” Serrieres said.
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“Me and Arthur have been in this situation quite a bit of times now and finally I took the longest straw and got the win. So, I’m thrilled,” Nielsen said. “Of course it’s not the coolest way to win, but I had my bad luck this year, so I’m happy to have my bit of luck to win this.”
In the women’s short-track race on Thursday, Avon’s Suzie Snyder finished in 15th place in a time of 41:38. Solenne Billouin (37:43), Diede Diederiks (38:24) and Loanne Duvoisin (38:54) comprised the podium. Snyder currently sits in fifth place in the women’s overall standings.
The 27th XTERRA World Championship will be contested at the regular full-distance (1.5K swim, 32K bike, 10K run) on Saturday, with a livestream on the XTERRA Youtube page beginning at 6 a.m. MST. Josiah, Sullivan’s dad, won the championship in 2015. The 45-year-old finished in 20th on Thursday after missing several weeks of training and racing (including the XTERRA USA championships in Beaver Creek) because of a broken foot.
Sullivan said Thursday’s performance has given him even more confidence going into the final race of the year.
“Yeah for sure,” he said. “I feel very good, I feel like I’m in very good shape.”
