EagleVail triathlete wins rebranded XTERRA North American Championship

XTERRA can change the name of an event, but it can’t change the winner.

Sullivan Middaugh — who won the last two XTERRA USA titles in Beaver Creek — won the newly-rebranded XTERRA North American Championship on Saturday at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama. Middaugh finished the 1.5-kilometer open water swim, 33-kilometer mountain bike and 10-kilometer trail run in 2 hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds.

“I was actually pretty happy with my effort over the run and felt that it was solid for me today,” Middaugh told XTERRA. The 20-year-old Project Podium athlete focuses primarily on draft-legal road triathlons; earlier this month he won his first-career Continental Cup event in Calima, Columbia.

“Off-road is my home, so I had tons of fun,” he said of the Oak Mountain event. “We had a really good front group, but the front three gapped me by the end. I gave it my all on the downhill of the singletrack, but I knew the Europeans are really good at descending.”

As part of the XTERRA triathlon World Cup, Oak Mountain served as the second of seven stops in the global series of events that will award $340,000 to XTERRA’s fastest professional athletes. It was also the inaugural “North American Cup,” a rebranding of the XTERRA USA championship.

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“In order to have a bigger, broader reach and make an inclusive opportunity for a championship, we moved from a US-based to a North American championship,” Steve Andrus, XTERRA Americas tour manager told the Vail Daily in a phone call last month. “What it does is strengthen the brand.” 

XTERRA hosts three regional tours within the World Cup: Asia Pacific (APAC), the Americas and European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA). Andrus said the rebranding was about giving a platform to the elites outside of the U.S. by offering them the opportunity to compete for a regional championship.

“There wasn’t a Canadian championship, there wasn’t a Mexican championship — this is how we do it so they feel welcome and invited,” he said.

Felix Forissier led a French domination of the overall men’s competition, taking the victory in 2:20:59. His fellow countryman, defending World Cup champion Arthur Serrieres finished second while Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen of Denmark placed third. Middaugh was fourth overall.

“It was a really tough race,” Forissier told XTERRA. “They pushed a lot on the bike, so I just tried to make a fast transition and do the best I could. I’m pretty happy with my race.”

Serries was not as thrilled about the silver.

 “I feel quite okay, but I’m a little bit disappointed because I need results right now. I’m searching for my shape. I was a little bit sick today, probably because my immunity is a bit low from training too much,” he said. “I’m always better at the end of the season, and I’m pretty sure I will be improving.”

It was the second year Oak Mountain has hosted an XTERRA World Cup event. Middaugh placed ninth overall at the full-distance last May. On Saturday, he shaved more than seven minutes off his time from 2023.

But the former Battle Mountain athlete’s North American reign appeared in jeopardy after the swim, as Canada’s Nicholas Harvey and American Eric Lagerstrom exited Double Oak Lake with a 30-second advantage over the first chase group. On the bike, Theo Dupras and Sloth Nielsen caught Middaugh on the first major climb. The group surged past Harvey and Lagerstrom — who was second at Oak Mountain in 2023 — with Dupras taking the lead into the second transition. Middaugh’s bike leg was the third-fastest of the day.

“The guys were nice to let me come by, but I had to deal with some decisions, especially on the long stretch where Sullivan and I really pushed it,” Nielsen told XTERRA.

Forissier set a relentless run pace, covering the hard-packed, twisty trails circumnavigating the lake in 35:55. Middaugh’s 38:16 split was the fifth-best on the day.

“They went out super hard,” Middaugh said regarding the run. “I tried to go with them but couldn’t keep up. By the time we hit the transition, the front three were already 15 seconds ahead.”

Lagerstrom was the second-place North American and Sullivan’s father, Josiah, finished third (11th overall). Another Eagle County-based elite, James Kirschner was 22nd in 2:44:24.

On the women’s side, Avon’s Suzie Snyder placed seventh overall. The six-time XTERRA USA champion’s time of 2:53:14 was good for the silver medal in the North American competition as Amanda Felder (2:52:08) took the title. Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer powered away from the field on the bike leg, cruising to a nearly three-minute overall victory in a time of 2:43:57.

Before the competition, Snyder told XTERRA she was looking forward to the mountain bike course, calling it “the most natural singletrack we race on which is fun and challenging.” She led a substantial chase group on the bike leg on Saturday, ultimately posting the fourth-fastest segment of the day.

The next stop on the World Cup is Belgium on June 8. The tour returns to North America for XTERRA Quebec on July 12-14. The XTERRA World Championships is on Sept. 28 in Trentino, Italy. In 2023, Middaugh won short-track bronze and placed fifth in the long-distance event. Even though he wasn’t at home at Beaver Creek, Middaugh was pleased to be on U.S. soil while he added another title to his growing off-road triathlon resume.

“It’s amazing to have World Championship competition here,” Middaugh stated. “Getting that experience and seeing that level of competition early in the season excites me for what’s to come.”