Frédéric Tranchand of France and Tove Alexandersson were crowned the Short Trail World Champions on the rugged Pyrenean course of Canfranc Pirineos.
They were both dominant against their respective fields in the 45km event which brought together the world’s best on challenging terrain.
And another common theme was that Tranchard and Alexandersson also both had orienteering backgrounds which clearly stood them in good stead.
Here’s how the action played out…
Men’s race – Plan B pays off for Tranchand
Tranchand took an early advantage – which he later said wasn’t part of the plan – and it was one he would never relinquish.
He moved to the front on the first climb, with Manuel Merillas of Spain in second and Norway’s Stian Angermund third.
But that pair would have contrasting fortunes in the rest of the race – Merillas always kept within range whereas Angermund faded out of contention.
With 10km remaining Merillas was just two minutes back and suddenly he was leading Spain to a team gold medal on home trails as team mates Andreu Blanes and Alain Santamaria had moved into third and fourth.
That was how it remained to the finish, Tranchand crossing the line in four hours, 42 minutes and 10 seconds.
That was 3:23 in front of Merillas, with Blanes at +9:42, Santamaria at +13:38 and Poland’s Marcin Kubica rounding out the top five at +14:28.
“It’s so unbelievable,” said a delighed Tranchand afterwards. “While I gave it everything I had, it was still a surprise to be in the lead so early.
“That was not at all the strategy but I ended up in the lead and I just had to do my best.
“I thought they would get back to me on the first descent and then the second climb but it didn’t happen.
“I started to have cramps late on and I was really afraid he [Merillas] would come back.
“I’ve been close here before but we had good preparation and this has been a big focus.”
And asked about his orienteering skills, he added: “There were some parts which weren’t so much paths so I think it helped being able to read the terrain and having that background.”
Women’s race – Alexandersson goes wire-to-wire
Tove Alexandersson meanwhile was even more dominant from start to finish.
She opened up a huge lead – more than 10 minutes – in the opening 15km, with Naomi Lang of Great Britain in second and Anna Plattner of Austria third at that point.
Alexandersson’s advantage continued to go out – so much so that it was around half an hour with 10km remaining.
But in behind there was a brilliant battle for second between Lang and Spain’s Sara Alonso.
They were locked together before Alonso edged ahead and she just had enough in reserve to take the silver medal, 38 seconds ahead of Lang but 33:55 behind Alexandersson.
It was a lot closer than the men’s in terms of the team standings given Alexandersson’s huge margin of victory because as it was decided by the top three combined times – and sure enough gold went to Sweden ahead of Spain.
And interviewed afterwards, the winner said: “I’ve been really focussed on this race for the last couple of months and have done everything I could to prepare as best I possibly could.
“I was very happy with my race today – it was quite hard to know where I was in relation to the other women as we obviously started at the same time as the men.”
Short Trail World Championship 2025 results
Friday 26 September, 45 kilometres
MEN:
- 1. Frédéric Tranchand (FRA) – 4:42:10
- 2. Manuel Merillas (ESP) – 4:45:33
- 3. Andreu Blanes (ESP) – 4:51:52
WOMEN:
- 1. Tove Alexandersson (SWE) – 5:04:20
- 2. Sara Alonso (ESP) – 5:38:15
- 3. Naomi Lang (GBR) – 5:38:54
