(The above image is from the 2025 World Championship in Italy.)

The XTERRA World Championship for 2026 heads from Europe to the high altitude town of Ruidoso, New Mexico in the USA. Ruidoso sits at over 2000m above sea level and will host the Elite, AG and Youth and Junior XTERRA World Championship from 2026 through to 2028.

Youth and Junior XTERRA Categories:

XTERRA age categories are slightly different to road. The XTERRA Youth Program consists of 3 age divisions, from 14yrs through to 19:

• M/F 14-15 (“Youth A”) 
• M/F 16-17 (“Youth B”) 
• M/F 18-19 (“Junior”) 

(Age group is determined by the athlete’s age as of December 31st of the year of the race)

Where:

• XTERRA has Youth and Junior World Championship qualifying races across the globe. Europe’s qualifying races are listed in the menu under the UK Competition Calendar. Typically each XTERRA venue gives athletes 5 WC spots per gender and category (i.e. 5 WC spots for Male 18-19 and 5 for Female 18-19)

Here is also a list of Europe’s 2026 World Championship qualifying races below, also found on the XTERRA Youth Tour & World Championship Qualification page here

• XTERRA Greece Vouliagmeni – (Vouliagmeni, Greece) – 24-26 April (Youth B and Junior qualifier only)
• XTERRA UK Weston Park – (Weston Park, Shropshire) – 1-3 May
• XTERRA Croatia Mali Lošinj – (Mali Lošinj, Croatia) – 8-10 May
• XTERRA Belgium – (Namur, Belgium) – 6 June
• XTERRA Nouvelle Aquitaine – (Beaumont-du-Lac, France) – 12-13 June
• XTERRA European Youth and Junior Championship – (Molveno, Italy) – 20-21 June
• XTERRA Slovakia – (Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia) – 26-27 June
• XTERRA France – (Xonrupt, Vosges, France) – 4-5 July
• XTERRA Lake Scanno – (Scanno, Italy) – 25-26 July
• XTERRA Czech Republic – (Prachatice, Czech Republic) – 7-9 August
• XTERRA Ardennes – (Lac de la Gileppe, Belgium) – 8 August (Youth B and Junior qualifier only)
• XTERRA Germany – (Zittau, Germany) – 14-16 August
• XTERRA Austria – (Bad Aussee, Austria) – 28-29 August

Race Formats and Distances

M/F 14-15: Super Sprint Distance: Maximum distances: 400m swim, 8K bike, 2K run.

M/F 16-17 & M/F 18-19: Sprint Distance: Maximum distances: 750m swim, 15K bike, 5K run.

According to XTERRA: These distances align with World Triathlon recommendations, and are enforced by most federations. Athletes in the M/F18-19 (Junior) division may choose to participate in Full Distance Triathlons as they wish, but all championship races will be decided on the distances described above.

• More information and F&Qs is on the XTERRA Youth Tour and World Championship Qualification page here