PONTEVEDRA, Spain — Josiah Middaugh (Vail, Colo.) earned a fourth-place finish today in the elite men’s race at the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships, held as part of the nine-day ITU Multisport World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.
Middaugh recorded the fastest bike split of the field (ITU Media/Wagner Araujo)
Middaugh was just 19 seconds off the podium, covering the 1-kilometer swim, 30-kilometer mountain bike and 7-kilometer trail run in 1 hour, 49 minutes, 24 seconds. France’s Arthur Forissier was crowned world champion, breaking the tape in 1:48:21. He was followed by silver medalist Ruben Ruzafa of Spain in 1:48:54, and the Czech Republic’s Lukas Kocar rounded out the podium in 1:49:05.
After exiting the water about two minutes back from the leaders, Middaugh worked his way through the field with a race-leading 1:06:47 bike split. At the second transition, it was Forissier, Kocar, Ruzafa and Middaugh in a pack out front — leaving the podium order to be decided on the run.
Middaugh’s 25:12 7k run split was enough to get him across the line in fourth, nearly 90 seconds ahead of the fifth-place finisher.
A 14-time XTERRA U.S. national champion, Middaugh has placed no lower than fifth in his six career ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship appearances. His best showings were runner-up finishes in 2014 (Zittau, Germany) and 2016 (Snowy Mountains, Australia).
Also racing for the U.S. on Tuesday were Branden Rakita (Colorado Springs, Colo.), who took 25th in 1:58:23, and Will Kelsay (Boulder, Colo.), 40th in 2:06:05. The women’s elite race had no U.S. competitors.
The ITU Multisport World Championships are taking place April 26-May 4, featuring races for elite, U23, junior, para and age-group athletes across six multisport disciplines.
2019 ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
1k swim, 30k bike, 7k run
Elite Men — Complete Results
1. Arthur Forissier (FRA), 1:48:21
2. Ruben Ruzafa (ESP), 1:48:54
3. Lukas Kocar (CZE), 1:49:05
U.S. Finishers
4. Josiah Middaugh (Vail, Colo.), 1:49:24
25. Branden Rakita (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:58:23
40. Will Kelsay (Boulder, Colo.), 2:06:05
