XTERRA Worlds 30: Middaugh gives home crowd a world title in Ruidoso

RUIDOSO NM  — The world came up the mountain this weekend, and an American sent the home crowd home happy.

Sullivan Middaugh ran away with the elite men's race at the 2026 XTERRA World Championship on Saturday, giving the home crowd its first title in 11 years. France's Alizée Patiès won the elite women's race. Both are first-time world champions.

The off-road triathlon's 30th anniversary brought athletes and supporters from 41 countries to Lincoln County. Ruidoso is the third home of the championship, after Maui, Hawaii, and Molveno, Italy.

Full-distance racers swam 1.5 kilometers in Grindstone Lake, a little under a mile. They then rode 27 kilometers, about 17 miles, of rocky singletrack around Grindstone Mesa and ran 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, through village streets and forest trails.

The mountain morning was cold. An hour before the start, the lake measured about 65 degrees and the air about 53.

Top 3 men

1. Sullivan Middaugh, United States, 2:06:50
2. José Ignacio "Nacho" Gálvez Ponce, Spain, 5 minutes 56 seconds back
3. Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen, Denmark

Middaugh won going away, but his day nearly came apart in the first minutes of the bike leg. Gálvez led the field out of Grindstone Lake in 18:21, with Middaugh and his younger brother Porter close behind. Then both leaders went down. Gálvez crashed on the first corner and Middaugh on the third, losing his bike computer.

With no power numbers to look at, Middaugh rode by feel.

"I think it was maybe a blessing in disguise not to have power data," he said.

It worked. His 1:07:18 bike split was the fastest in the men's field, and his 39:00 run was the fastest too. He said he trusted his uphill running at altitude, pushed every climb and let the descents roll.

Gálvez picked himself up and held on to second, a finish few race predictions had him making. Nielsen, a crowd favorite, started the bike in 13th and worked his way up to bronze. It is his fourth straight World Championship podium.

France's Arthur Serrières finished fourth and countryman Maxim Chané fifth.

A family affair

The winner was not the only Middaugh near the front. Sullivan's father, former XTERRA world champion Josiah Middaugh, finished sixth. Younger brother Porter crossed the line seventh despite a hard crash on the bike. That put three members of one family in the world's top seven.

"Just a proud day," Josiah Middaugh said.

Sullivan said the win meant everything to him. He and his brother grew up going to their father's races.

Patiès takes the women's title

Patiès won the elite women's race in 2:36:19, finishing 6 minutes 14 seconds ahead of Italy's Marta Menditto. Australia's Maeve Kennedy took bronze.

Costa Rica's Raquel Solis and France's Emma Ducreux came out of the water together in 20:38. Patiès said the swim was a struggle, so she let the lead group go and settled into her own pace. She started the bike in third.

She did not stay there long. Patiès had the lead by the first bike checkpoint, and her 1:20:45 split was the fastest of the women's race. The gap held up through a run she said hurt everywhere, especially on the second lap.

"It's a lifelong dream," Patiès said.

Menditto ran her way to silver with the fastest women's run split, 50:42, passing Ducreux on the second lap. Kennedy also got past Ducreux late on that lap to reach the podium. She credited her family, training partners and community for getting her there

Ruidoso wins over the visitors

The village made an impression on its guests. Australia's Hannah-Lee Young, sixth in the elite women's race, said Ruidoso's small-town feel reminds her of where she grew up.

"I walk down the street now and everyone says hello," Young said.

In the age-group championships, France's Simon Gourgues and Inès de Sousa posted the fastest overall men's and women's times. Both won their 20–24 divisions. New Zealand's Arna Craig took second in the women's 40–44 division behind New Caledonia's Caroline Favier, who passed her on the second run lap.

Sunday: Day 3 closes out the weekend

Racing wraps up Sunday, Oct. 11, with two shorter triathlons and the closing ceremony.

More event details are at DiscoverRuidoso.com.

Full results: https://results.xterraplanet.com/?source=sportzhub.com

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