Arthur Serrieres (FRA) and Eleonora Peroncini (ITA) won the XTERRA Switzerland off-road triathlon elite races in the Vallee de Joux on Saturday, June 26, 2021, with winning times of 2:14:03 and 2:38:20, respectively.
It’s the 10th career XTERRA World Tour victory for Serrieres, his third this season and second in as many weeks following his win in the XTERRA Czech Republic last Saturday. It’s the second XTERRA World Tour win for Peroncini, the reigning ITU Cross Triathlon World Champion, who earned her first at XTERRA Portugal two years ago.
Today’s race, the 11th edition of XTERRA Switzerland and its eighth time in the beautiful village of Les Charbonnières, combined a 1.5K swim in Lac Brenet with a two-loop 27K mountain bike through the dairy farms in the valley and a scenic two-lap 10K trail run.
In the men’s race, Brian Tetard was the first out of the water with Maxim Chane and Julien Buffe in hot pursuit five seconds later. Serrieres (pictured), the 2019 XTERRA European Champion, was just 15 seconds behind the leaders and putting pressure on the front pack.
Home country favorite Xavier Dafflon had his work cut out for him to close the four-minute deficit on the leaders out of the water. With the race doubling as the Swiss Tri Cross Championships, Dafflon was also focused on closing the gap on his countryman Samuel Jud who was two minutes 30 seconds ahead.
On the bike, Chane took control of the race, pushing hard and showing his strengths. Serrieres didn’t let his competitor out of his sights however, chasing hard just one minute behind with Frenchman Theo Dupras following in third place. The fastest bike split of the day, however, belonged to Dafflon who despite having technical issues, came into transition in fourth position ahead of Jud.
Known for his running strength, Serrieres reeled in Chane on his way to posting the fastest run split of the day once again and crossed the line more than one-minute ahead of Chane in second.
“Maxim pushed me today on the bike and made it really hard for me, so I am really happy to win here and battle hard with my friend,” said Serrieres.
Looking ahead to XTERRA France on July 4, he added, “I think I showed everyone at XTERRA Czech Republic that I can really be a compete athlete. XTERRA France is one of the biggest races in Europe and I’m ready for it. Maxim and Arthur Forissier are very strong, as are the rest of the guys, so it will be a really good battle.”
Chane, who had said before the race his training plan was focused on arriving at XTERRA France in top shape, said he’s happy with his performance today.
“I think my shape is coming back slowly so hopefully next week I will be back to 100%,” he said. “I tried to stay focused on the race and not push from the start. I followed the first guy and then I was good at my pace. Arthur was stronger today, so I didn’t push more to catch him, better to finish second than blow up and finish 10th.”
Dupras finished third, earning his first XTERRA podium. Pleased with his result, Dupras will sit out the next race on the calendar in order to be in top form for his favorite race of the season, XTERRA Belgium on July 10.
“I really worked on my swimming this winter and I came out of the water about 1 minute and 30 seconds behind in the race today which is good for me. After that, I came back to Arthur Serrieres on the bike but on the run I couldn’t do anymore.” said Dupras.
Dafflon finished in fourth place, two minutes ahead of Jud in fifth to win the Swiss Tri Cross Championship title.
Elite Men’s Results
| Pl | Name, NAT | Swim | Bike | Run | Finish |
| 1 | Arthur Serrieres, FRA | 19:48 | 1:08:31 | 44:21 | 2:14:03 |
| 2 | Maxim Chané, FRA | 19:32 | 1:07:20 | 46:46 | 2:15:05 |
| 3 | Théo Dupras, FRA | 20:46 | 1:07:56 | 48:58 | 2:19:16 |
| 4 | Xavier Dafflon, SUI | 23:55 | 1:05:52 | 48:08 | 2:19:43 |
| 5 | Samuel Jud, SUI | 21:12 | 1:08:35 | 49:27 | 2:21:44 |
| 6 | Andres Carnevali, ESP | 20:44 | 1:11:03 | 48:48 | 2:22:23 |
| 7 | Julien Buffe, FRA | 19:37 | 1:12:04 | 51:35 | 2:25:10 |
| 8 | Brian Tétard, FRA | 19:31 | 1:15:54 | 54:21 | 2:31:24 |
| 9 | Filippo Barazzuol, ITA | 20:55 | 1:17:17 | 52:49 | 2:33:15 |
| 10 | Andrés Cano, ESP | 22:40 | 1:14:33 | 54:41 | 2:33:33 |
Full results:
In the women’s race, Peroncini emerged out of the water in first place and was unstoppable from there on in with the fastest bike and run splits as well. The talented Italian continued to push hard on the bike, reaching transition one-minute 30 seconds ahead of her opponents before an impressive run to cross the line nearly seven-minutes ahead of Marta Menditto in second place.
Menditto led the chase pack out of the swim-to-bike transition but up-and-coming talent and age-group athlete, Carole Perrot, managed to hunt her down in the second lap of the bike to move up to second place. Perrot couldn’t quite hold off Menditto on the run, however, and crossed the finish line as the top amateur and an impressive 3rd place overall.
As the first Swiss athlete across the finish line, Perrot was also crowned winner of the 2021 Swiss Cross Triathlon Championship. Her performance, alongside that of age-grouper Leduc Gaelle (4th place), highlighted the high caliber and quality of the athletes across the field.
Maud Golsteyn crossed the line in fifth place overall, third elite, and was already looking forward to returning to the course in 2022.
“That was a really tough race after so long not racing but I really loved it,” said Golsteyn. “I enjoyed the swim and the bike, and I even enjoyed the run. I am already looking forward to come back here next year to do it all again!”
Elite Women’s Results
| Pl | Name, NAT | Swim | Bike | Run | Finish |
| 1 | Eleonora Peroncini, ITA | 22:38 | 1:18:54 | 55:06 | 2:38:20 |
| 2 | Marta Menditto, ITA | 23:18 | 1:22:10 | 58:03 | 2:45:13 |
| 3 | Maud Golsteyn, NED | 24:52 | 1:27:00 | 56:28 | 2:50:18 |
| 4 | Ségolène Léberon, FRA | 26:30 | 1:26:47 | 56:21 | 2:51:29 |
Full results: https://live.mso-chrono.ch/live/glive/g-live.html?f=../2021/xterra-switzzerland/XTerra.clax
Next up is XTERRA France on July 4, then XTERRA Belgium on July 10 to conclude four straight weeks of XTERRA racing in Europe before a week off leading into XTERRA Italy Lake Scanno on July 18.
All-Time XTERRA Switzerland Elite Winners
| Year | Men’s Champ | Women’s Champ | Host |
| 2010 | Olivier Marceau | Marion Lorblancet | Prangins |
| 2011 | Olivier Marceau | Marion Lorblancet | Prangins |
| 2012 | Nicolas Lebrun | Helena Erbenova | Prangins |
| 2013 | Victor Del Corral | Helena Erbenova | Vallee de Joux |
| 2014 | Ruben Ruzafa | Kathrin Mueller | Vallee de Joux |
| 2015 | Arthur Forissier | Carina Wasle | Vallee de Joux |
| 2016 | Ruben Ruzafa | Michelle Flipo | Vallee de Joux |
| 2017 | Arthur Forissier | Michelle Flipo | Vallee de Joux |
| 2018 | Arthur Forissier | Brigitta Poor | Vallee de Joux |
| 2019 | Arthur Forissier | Camille Defer | Vallee de Joux |
| 2021 | Arthur Serrieres | Eleonora Peroncini | Vallee de Joux |
Relive race coverage on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/xterraeurope/
Photos and videos will be posted shortly at Facebook.com/xterraeurope.
Coming up on the XTERRA World Tour…
Dates: Races (Destination)
July 4: XTERRA Waiuku TR (Auckland, NZ)
July 4: XTERRA France ORT (Xonrupt)
July 10: XTERRA Belgium ORT (Namur)
July 10-11: XTERRA Magnolia Hill ORT-TR (Narasova, TX)
July 11: XTERRA EX2 ORT (Flintstone, MD)
July 17-18: XTERRA Beaver Creek ORT-TR (Avon, CO)
July 17-18: XTERRA Italy – Lake Scanno TR-ORT (Abruzzo)
July 24: XTERRA Dino Northern Indiana ORT & TR (North Liberty, IN)
July 25: XTERRA Hunua Ranges TR (Auckland, NZ)
Find the Full Schedule @ xterraplanet.com
Key: ORT=Off-Road Tri / TR=Trail Run
Find the Full Schedule @xterraplanet.com