Forissier, Flipo win XTERRA Switzerland

Complete Results / Gallery

June 24, 2017 : For Immediate Release

Arthur Forissier from France and Michelle Flipo from Mexico captured the 8th annual XTERRA Switzerland Championship in the Vallee de Joux this afternoon.

The win is the second in three years for Forissier on this course and the second in a row for Flipo. Forissier’s win also ended three-time XTERRA World Champ Ruben Ruzafa’s five-race win streak (Ruzafa is now won 28-of-35 XTERRA majors in his career).

XTERRA World Tour managing director Dave Nicholas was on-site to take in all the action and brings us this report…

The weather was unusual but the winners were not.

There were surprises, however, starting from when Nicole Walters came out of the water in front of Flipo.  We know Nicole as a wonderful sportswoman and guide for challenged athletes but I had no idea she could be so quick.  And it did not end with the swim.  She rode equally well and those of us who expected Michelle and Brigitta to catch her never saw it happen.

Nicole held the lead into T2 and out onto the run trails.  Michelle put in a very fast run to catch Nicole on the first lap and pulled away to her second XTERRA Swiss win in two years with a 3+ minute lead.

Farther back Morgane Riou was having an excellent race with a good bike and an excellent run.   As good as her run was, Myriam “the rocket” Guillot-Boisset was having an extraordinary run passing Carina Wasle, Nicole and Morgane to finish second.

“I had no idea of my “XTERRA” shape this morning, so I started with no stress,” said Guillot-Boisset.  “I thought I had a good swim exiting the water, but after seeing my split it really wasn’t.  Still, I was in front of Helena, so a place I’m used to being. I built slowly on the bike, and had no idea of my position, just focusing on my sensation and myself. Starting the run, I was still 7th and thought this is not very good, but I didn’t know most of the girls weren’t too far away, and slowly I started to pass one, two, and get back on the podium.  Finishing second is very good, I’m so happy and now fired up for next week in France with a harder race that will fit me way better.”

Riou came home a superb 3rd, Nicole Walters a very well deserved 4th and Carina Wasle 5th.  Poor Helena Erbenova had a terrible day and struggled to 8th.  Brigitta Poor was 6th and Maud Golsteyn 7th.

“I had a very good swim today,” said Riou.  “In Belgium, I was almost 2′ back of Carina and this time I was with her out of the water, and I was not that far from Brigitta, so that brought me lots of confidence. On the bike, I had Isabelle Klein in the front most of the time but wasn’t able to catch her, but that helped me to push all the time. Starting the run, I never thought I could catch Carina or Brigitta, so passing those girls – who I have never beat in my life – was amazing and when in the last K I passed Nicole to finish on the podium, it was amazing. I’m so happy, today was my best performance ever.”

A refreshed looking Flipo looked entirely different from the mud caked woman we saw at the finish last year.  “I was also surprised we could not catch Nicole.  I passed her on the run and then started feeling like I had a migraine.  Things were getting a bit blurry and this is usually the first sign” she said.  “But it never got too bad and I just held my pace to the end.”

On the men’s side Hannes Wolpert led from the swim with a huge pack behind him.  The first 5K of the mountain bike was a full-on sprint.  At that point Kiwi Sam Osborne led with Ruben Ruzafa closing in, Brad Weiss 3rd and then a gang fight after them.  It was exciting stuff.

There is a small loop of 2K at the far end of the bike course.  It takes about three minutes to get around and return to where it started and by the time they returned Ruzafa had taken the lead.  Sam stayed second just a few feet behind and Brad 3rd.  Then the pack of Francois Carloni, Arthur Serrieres, Tiago Maia, Hannes Wolpert and Anthony Pannier.  The Swiss favorite, Xavier Dafflon, was 6+ minutes back after a horrible swim.  While Dafflon has been the fastest biker over the past two races, this course is too fast and not technical enough for him to make up such a gap.  He did close it to within four-minutes by the end of the bike.  Today Mother Nature’s trails were his biggest competitor.

Weiss punctured his tire on the bike while in the lead and did not finish.

Onto the second bike lap Arthur Forissier was up into 3rd behind Osborne.  Ruben had a solid lead but both Sam and Arthur were within striking distance.

“I had a bad stomach last week,” Ruzafa said.  “I did not get a lot of training between my last event so I was worried about these guys.  I am very happy with 2nd.”

Forissier passed Osborne, then caught Ruzafa to take the lead and the footrace was on.

“I had the perfect race,” said Forissier. “It was tough, though, and on the run every time I looked back Ruben was there and getting closer.”

Indeed, the three-time XTERRA World Champ (pictured above) was not done.  “I thought I would stay close in case he got tired, but he never did,” smiled Ruzafa.

In the end, the gap was just 15-seconds.

“I swam as fast as possible knowing it would be the key today, and totally killed my arms,” exclaimed Forissier.  “I started the bike not afraid to be alone as I knew many athletes would start fast trying to follow Ruben and will pay for that on the second loop, and that is what happened. I was 7th after one loop and 2nd at the end of the bike. On the run, I saw Ruben not going so fast so I started as fast as possible to catch him quick but at the end I really struggled to finish.  I ran out of energy, and my mind took over. I’m so happy to win again here, especially in front of Ruben. If you told me this morning I would beat Ruben I would not have believed you.”

Another Frenchman named Arthur, Arthur Serrieres, also had a great race today.

“I rode really well and came into T2 with Francois and Sam,” said Serrieres.  “I went to leave T2 and had racked my bike the wrong way, so I had to go back and make it right and by that time those guys were gone.”

It didn’t take long for Serrieres to catch and pass into 3rd with Sam Osborne just a half minute behind.  Our Swiss warrior Dafflon was not taking it easy.  Xavier was running hard and pulled his way into 5th overall.  Carloni took 6th with Anthony Pannier an excellent 7th.

It was a fantastic pro field and a fast and furious race with the winners not decided until the last 7K of the run.  The Swiss race is quite unique.  The bike is fast and the strong rider who may not have great technical skills can earn a good result.  It is the kind of course where there is no chance to breathe a bit and save some energy.  It is a sprint from start to finish.

We were supported today by Renata Bucher who served as one of our announcers and did so in English and in German.  Quite a talent as she has such great insights into what is happening.

Our first Gold event is in the books.  A grand success as it was sold out with more than 450 racers and a beautiful day for racing.  We head next to Xonrupt in the Vosges mountains of northern France.  This is the biggest XTERRA in Europe and the longest.  Many of the same players will be there and it will be interesting to see the results because the circuits are so different.  You’ll see it live on XTERRA Europe Facebook next Sunday and read about it Sunday eve.

XTERRA SWITZERLAND Pro Men Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Arthur Forissier, FRA 2:10:43 100 2 Ruben Ruzafa, ESP 2:10:58 90 3 Arthur Serrieres, FRA 2:13:02 82 4 Sam Osborne, NZL 2:13:36 75 5 Xavier Dafflon, SUI 2:15:55 69 6 Francois Carloni, FRA 2:16:35 63 7 Anthony Pannier, FRA 2:17:32 58 8 Theo Dupras, FRA 2:19:17 53 9 Tiago Maia, POR 2:19:45 49 10 Clement Briere, FRA 2:20:40 45 11 Rui Dolores, POR 2:21:02 41 12 Hannes Wolpert, GER 2:21:14 37 13 Doug Hall, GBR 2:22:52 34 14 Jan Pyott, SUI 2:24:10 31 15 Tomas Kubek, SVK 2:24:27 28 Also: Xavier Jove Riart, Julien Buffe, Thomas Rusch, Maxim Chane, Jacky Boisset, Philippe Giauque Women Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Michelle Flipo, MEX 2:31:13 100 2 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA 2:34:47 90 3 Morgane Riou, FRA 2:35:26 82 4 Nicole Walters, GBR 2:35:52 75 5 Carina Wasle, AUT 2:37:18 69 6 Brigitta Poor, HUN 2:37:36 63 7 Maud Golsteyn, NED 2:38:59 58 8 Helena Erbenova, CZE 2:40:11 53 9 Isabelle Ferrer, FRA 2:40:49 49 10 Ladina Buss, SUI 2:41:28 45 11 Isabelle Klein, LUX 2:41:45 41 12 Angela Niklaus, SUI 2:41:46 37 13 Rebecca Kaltenmeier, GER 2:50:38 34 14 Lydia Hale, NZL 2:52:01 31 15 Sanne Van Paassen, NED 2:57:34 28

RUZAFA, POOR REMAIN ON TOP OF EURO TOUR AFTER EIGHT

Ruben Ruzafa and Brigitta Poor, the reigning XTERRA European Tour Champions, are still the leaders after eight of 14 races on this year’s tour.  In the men’s chase Carloni retains his spot at No. 2, with Xavier Dafflon jumping over Yeray Luxem into the third position, and Rui Dolores making a big leap from the 10-spot to No. 5.

In the women’s chase Poor, Erbenova, and Golsteyn remain in the 1,2,3 spots but Morgane Riou jumped from sixth to fourth position, and Wasle stayed at No. 5.

Next Up:  XTERRA France, July 2 2017 XTERRA EUROPEAN TOUR ELITE POINTS STANDINGS After 8 – 6.24 Men S S S S S S S G Pl Name, NAT TOTAL MLT CYP GRE ESP POR BEL FIN SUI 1 Ruben Ruzafa, ESP 390 DNS DNS 75 75 75 75 DNS 90 2 Francois Carloni, FRA 326 61 47 43 DNS 61 51 DNS 63 3 Xavier Dafflon, SUI 239 DNS DNS 47 DNS 56 67 DNS 69 4 Yeray Luxem, BEL 203 DNS 75 DNS DNS 67 61 DNS DNS 5 Rui Dolores, POR 163 DNS DNS 39 36 47 DNS DNS 41 6 Oivind Bjerkseth, NOR 156 33 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS 7 Arthur Forissier, FRA 151 DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 8 Jan Kubicek, CZE 149 DNS DNS DNP 39 DNS 43 67 DNS 9 Jan Pyott, SUI 145 56 DNS 25 33 DNS DNS DNS 31 10 Arthur Serrieres , FRA 143 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNP DNS 82 11 Roger Serrano, ESP 142 75 DNS 67 DNS DNS DNF DNS DNS 12 Maximilian Sasserath, GER 128 67 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS 13 Thomas Kerner, GER 127 DNS 61 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS 14 Xavier Jove Riart, ESP 118 DNS DNS DNS 67 51 DNS DNS DNP 15 Jens Roth, GER 117 DNS DNS 61 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 16 Hannes Wolpert, GER 116 DNF 43 DNP DNS 36 DNP DNS 37 17 Maxim Chane, FRA 113 30 DNS 36 DNS DNS 47 DNS DNP 18 Theo Dupras, FRA 80 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS 53 19 Julien Buffe, FRA 79 DNS 56 23 DNS DNS DNP DNS DNP 20 Tiago Maia, POR 79 DNS DNS 30 DNS DNF DNS DNS 49 21 Geert Lauryssen, BEL 75 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS 22 Pavel Andreev, RUS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 23 Tomas Kubek, SVK 75 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 24 Sam Osborne, NZL 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 25 Mark Hamersma, NED 66 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS 26 Stephan Radeck, GER 64 25 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 Panu Lieto, FIN 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS 28 Doug Hall, GBR 61 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 29 Llewellyn Holmes, GBR 58 DNS DNS DNS 25 33 DNS DNS DNS 30 Anthony Pannier, FRA 58 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 31 Peter Lehmann, GER 57 DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS 30 DNS DNS 32 Kris Coddens, BEL 56 DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 33 Bradley Weiss, RSA 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNF 34 Tim Van Daele, BEL 52 DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS 25 DNS DNS 35 Jörg Scheiderbauer, GER 51 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 36 Sebastian Neef, GER 51 DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 Pavel Jindra, CZE 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS 38 Albert Soley, ESP 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 Pekka Nieminen, FIN 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS 40 Clement Briere, FRA 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 41 Pau Botella Tarres, ESP 43 DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 42 Mattia De Paoli, ITA 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS 43 Samuli Heikkila, FIN 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS 44 Jim Thijs, BEL 39 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 Dominik Wychera, AUT 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS 46 Jonne Tuomas Mustonen, FIN 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS 47 Pierre Alain Nicole, FRA 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 36 DNS DNS 48 Guillaume Jeannin, FRA 30 DNS DNS DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 Alejandro Salmeron Tenorio, ESP 30 DNS DNS DNS DNP 30 DNS DNS DNS 50 Rafael Gomes, POR 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS 51 Octavio Vicente, POR 25 DNS DNS DNS DNS 25 DNS DNS DNS 52 Callum Hughes, GBR 23 23 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 Javier Oliver Vives, ESP 23 DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS DNS DNS 54 Markus Benesch, AUT 21 DNS DNS 21 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 55 Zeus Gutierrez Ochoa, ESP 21 DNS DNS DNS 21 DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 Morten Olesen, DEN 21 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 21 DNS DNS WM S S S S S S S G Pl Name, NAT TOTAL MLT CYP GRE ESP POR BEL FIN SUI 1 Brigitta Poor, HUN 422 75 75 67 67 75 DNS DNS 63 2 Helena Erbenova, CZE 406 67 DNS 75 75 61 75 DNS 53 3 Maud Golsteyn, NED 268 56 DNS 47 DNS 56 51 DNS 58 4 Morgane Riou, FRA 266 DNS 67 56 DNS DNS 61 DNS 82 5 Carina Wasle, AUT 254 51 DNS DNS DNS 67 67 DNS 69 6 Cecila Jessen, SWE 206 39 61 DNS DNS DNS 39 67 DNS 7 Nicole Walters, GBR 136 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 8 Louise Fox, GBR 118 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 9 Isabelle Ferrer, FRA 100 DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 10 Michelle Flipo, MEX 100 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 11 Rocío Espada, ESP 98 DNS DNS DNS 51 47 DNS DNS DNS 12 Isabelle Klein, LUX 97 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS 41 13 Ladina Buss, SUI 96 DNS DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS 45 14 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 15 Kathrin Mueller, GER 89 33 DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 16 Anna Pauline Sasserath, GER 79 36 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 17 Miriam Casillas Garcia, ESP 61 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 18 Sara Bonilla, ESP 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS 19 Elina Honkavuori, FIN 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS 20 Daz Parker, GBR 56 DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 21 Marika Wagner, SWE 51 DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 Kristina Lapinova, SVK 47 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 Aina Picas, ESP 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS 24 Ine Couckuyt, BEL 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS 25 Renata Bucher, SUI 43 DNS DNS 43 DNF DNS DNS DNS DNS 26 Sheila Marques, POR 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS 27 Jessica Roberts, GBR 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS 28 Angela Niklaus, SUI 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 29 Anne-Sophie Marechal, BEL 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 36 DNS DNS 30 Rebecca Kaltenmeier, GER 34 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 31 Lydia Hale, NZL 31 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 31 32 Marta Menditto, ITA 30 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 33 Sanne Van Paassen, NED 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 XTERRA Switzerland was the eighth of 14 races on the XTERRA European Tour, and 22nd of 40 on the XTERRA World Tour where amateur athletes from around the world can qualify to race at the 22nd annual XTERRA World Championship in Maui on October 29. Date Race Elite Winners or Location 25-Feb XTERRA South Africa Richard Murray / Flora Duffy 4-Mar XTERRA Motatapu Dougal Allan / Josie Wilcox 18-Mar XTERRA Saipan + Silver Sam Osborne / Carina Wasle 25-Mar XTERRA Argentina # Silver Gonzalo Tellechea / Suzie Snyder 1-Apr XTERRA Thailand + Silver Kieran McPherson / Renata Bucher 1-Apr XTERRA Chile # Silver Felipe Barraza / Barbara Riveros 2-Apr XTERRA Malta * Silver Roger Serrano / Brigitta Poor 8-Apr XTERRA New Zealand + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 9-Apr XTERRA Costa Rica # Silver Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 16-Apr XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Danao + GOLD Bradley Weiss / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Cyprus * Silver Yeray Luxem / Brigitta Poor 29-Apr XTERRA Langkawi + GOLD Osborne,Allen,Weiss,McPherson/Wasle 30-Apr XTERRA Greece * Silver Ruben Ruzafa, Helena Erbenova 6-May XTERRA Tahiti + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 13-May XTERRA Brazil # Silver Felipe Moletta / Sabrina Gobbo 14-May XTERRA Spain * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 20-May XTERRA Oak Mountain # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 27-May XTERRA Portugal * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Brigitta Poor 10-Jun XTERRA Belgium * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 17-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter ^ Karsten Madsen / Heather Pady 18-Jun XTERRA Finland * Silver Pavel Andreev / Louise Fox 24-Jun XTERRA Switzerland * GOLD Arthur Forissier / Michelle Flipo 2-Jul XTERRA France * GOLD Xonrupt 9-Jul XTERRA Victoria # Silver Victoria, B.C., Canada 15-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek # GOLD Beaver Creek, CO, USA 30-Jul XTERRA Abruzzo * Silver Scanno, Abruzzo, Italy 5-Aug XTERRA Mexico # GOLD Tapalpa 5-Aug XTERRA Norway * Silver Norefjell 6-Aug XTERRA Canmore ^ Canmore, Alberta, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Quebec ^ Quebec City, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Parry Sound ^ Ontario, Canada 13-Aug XTERRA Dominican Republic # Silver Barahona 13-Aug XTERRA Poland * Silver Krakow 19-Aug XTERRA Germany * GOLD Zittau 26-Aug XTERRA Sleeping Giant ^ Thunder Bay, ON, Canada 2-Sep XTERRA Japan + Silver Hokkaido 3-Sep XTERRA European Championship (DEN) * GOLD Mons Klint 16-Sep XTERRA Pan Am Championship / USA # D-GOLD Ogden, Utah, USA 29-Oct XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

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