Diederiks and Kocar win Xterra Short Track Germany

It was a win in her first Xterra event for the Netherlands’ Diede Diederiks today, while the Czech Republic’s Lukas Kocar took the men’s race.

The short, speedy event featured a two-lap, 400 m swim, four 1.5 km mountain bike laps with jumps and berms, followed by a 2.6 km, two-loop run. All the athletes competing today will also be racing at tomorrow’s Xterra European Championship.

Italy’s Matilde Bolzan provided lots of excitement on the bike as she rode her way into contention, but it was Diederiks, the 2019 Dutch Cross Tri National Champion, who ran through the field from sixth to first to take the women’s win. Behind her Bolzan and France’s Solenne Billouin found themselves in a sprint for second, with the Frenchwoman eking out the win by a second.

In the men’s race a big group came out of the water close together, but Kocar put his stamp on the race early in the bike, eventually pulling clear and staying away to the finish. France’s Arthur Serrieres and Arthur Forissier managed to run their way to the second two spots on the podium.

“It feels amazing to win, what a great feeling,” Kocar said after his win. “I went full gas from the start of the bike and all the way to the finish. I knew Serrieres was a strong runner so I went all-out on the first lap and halfway into the second before I could relax a little bit and enjoy the finish.”