Xterra Finland

My first World Series xterra podium 😍 08/26/2018 After driving north from Zittau (GER) last week and staying in a different country every night with my teammate (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia), we finally arrived in Finland last Thursday. In the small town of Imatra, far to the east, xterra finland was on the agenda. I inspected the track 2 days before the race, where interviews, photo shoots, video shoots were also done. I really liked the track.

The starting shot was fired sharply at 12 noon on Sunday. 22 elite athletes + all amateurs started the race at the same time - the 1.5km was a bit longer this time (1.85km) in the very cold, largest lake in Europe. I found a good pace and came out of the water about 3 minutes after the leader. This time there were 3 laps of 10km each on the bike, I kept the pace very high right from the start and was able to catch up. With the 2nd strongest bike time of the day, I came into the transition area as 2nd, only 20 seconds behind. But right behind me 4 other athletes. I knew it was going to be quite a fight for the podium in the run. This time my legs were back and with the 3rd best run and 2 lost shoes in the swamp (holding in my hands as you can see in the photo 🤣) I finished 3rd in the Elite. Super happy tomorrow (Monday) we are heading towards Norway.