XTERRA European Tour 2014

The XTERRA European Tour will feature as many as 13 majors in 2014 including new stops in Portugal, Ireland and Denmark with the possibility of two more Nordic races in Sweden and Norway.

“It’s really been remarkable to see the interest in XTERRA grow year-over-year in Europe,” said XTERRA managing director Dave Nicholas. “If everything comes together we’ll have a major every weekend from mid-June all the way through August.”

While the Sweden/Norway races are yet to be finalized, the rest of the Tour is set and travel options abound for adventurous triathletes worldwide.

“I’ve said it a thousand times, but it bears repeating, there’s really no greater way to explore the diverse and culturally rich areas of Europe than to string together two or more of these races and enjoy the adventurous travel in between,” said Nicholas. “Each venue offers a unique experience, and you can count on the XTERRA family to welcome you wherever you go.”

Nicholas should know, having been on-hand to oversee nearly every big event in Europe since ’99.

The Euro Tour also appears to be the proving ground for the sports’ fastest racers, evidenced by their recent success at the XTERRA World Championship.  Six of the top 10 men at XTERRA Worlds were regulars on the Euro Tour including the top three – Ruben Ruzafa, Asa Shaw, and Ben Allen.  Also of note, three Frenchman won age group titles in prominent divisions – Clement Briere (20-24), Oliver Pichou (30-34), and Romaric Delepine (35-39) while Albert Soley from Spain won the 25-29 World title.

For the second straight year the Series will start in Spain (May 25), a country home to  more XTERRA World Championship men’s pro titles than any other with six combined between Eneko Llanos (3), Ruzafa (2), and Javier Gomez.  The following weekend the Tour visits a new venue and new local organizer for XTERRA Portugal in Golega.

Then starting on June 21 the XTERRA European Tour heads to Greece, Switzerland, France, Sweden (tentative), Ireland, Italy, Norway (tentative), Czech, Germany, England, and Denmark on successive weekends.

Of note, the XTERRA Germany Championship in Zittau on August 16 will double as the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships.  With XTERRA Czech a week before and XTERRA England a week after, there’s a neat opportunity for Americans (and athletes from around the world) to race for their nation and have two or three chances to qualify for XTERRA Worlds at the same time.

“It’s going to be a fun summer, that’s for sure,” said Nicholas.