🚵 Kieran McPherson is determined to turn the numbers he’s seeing in training into improved race results as the XTERRA World Cup, off-road triathlon’s pre-eminent series, reaches its halfway mark in Alabama over the weekend.
The Matamata 33-year-old enters XTERRA Oak Mountain 8th in the season standings after being forced out of last weekend’s third round near Birmingham, England with concussion following a reconnaissance ride crash.
As of Wednesday, a month’s worth of rain had fallen at the leafy state park in Pelham, Shelby County which is sure to bring a fresh dynamic to a course noted for its fast, flowing but technical and tight singletrack. Regardless, McPherson is determined to haul himself back up the rankings in the Full Distance (1.5km swim/33km bike/10km run) and Short Track (400m swim/7.5km bike/3km run) races in the early hours of Sunday and Monday NZ time.
“It has been a tough season so far filled with bad luck, poor decisions and injury through crashing,” McPherson, a dual Kiwi-U.S. citizen, told SBR-Tri.com.
“If I make better decisions and make my own luck, I should continue to improve for the rest of the season. As a team, we have not hit what we are capable of according to my training. I plan on doing all of the World Cup stops and hope to move into the top three come the end of season.”
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📺 XTERRA Oak Mountain (NZ times)
Sunday, May 19 (1:30am)
Full Distance: 1.5km swim/33km bike/10km run
Monday, May 20 (3:10am)
* Short Track: 400m swim/7.5km bike/3km run
* Follow the Short Track LIVE on YouTube
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McPherson was 8th in both the full distance and short track races at Oak Mountain last year but is hoping for more in what doubles as XTERRA’s North American Championships. With his duel nationality, the world No.12 is eligible for the continental gong after also finishing second in the Asia Pacific Championship in Western Australia in late March.
There are nine Americans listed on the start list with Sam Teller the only one with 2025 season points thus far after finishing 19th of 20 at Weston Park last weekend. Overall, Frenchman Felix Forissier is the man to beat after winning both Weston Park and Xterra Greece in Vouliagmeni before that.
“The great thing about XTERRA is every course is different and plays to different athletes’ strengths,” McPherson said.
“Alabama is a flat lake non wetsuit swim, technical mountain bike, and flat 10km [run] on twisty single track. Temperatures for race day are expected to be getting up to 30C in high humidity with possible thunderstorms so this can also play a factor in addition to the rain which could make conditions interesting come race day.”
The Waikato warrior has shared the details around his scary crash at Weston Park last week.
“XTERRA UK was on a private estate just outside of Birmingham. The farmer leases the land from the estate to run sheep. Xterra works with the estate which the farmer is not all that pleased about and he had been messing with markings all week. I had ridden an easy pre-ride lap and was completing a second lap at a faster pace.
“It is not clear whether the farmer or stock had moved a section of waste fencing out onto a blind section of track. I hit it at roughly 45 [kmh] and my bike immediately came to a stop. I did not. That was on the Wednesday afternoon of race week. Vomiting, nausea, headaches, light headedness, light sensitive for the next few days meant pulling the pin on the race.”
Following Alabama, the World Cup circuit moves to the dense forests of Lac Delage, Canada (July 12), the cobblestone streets of Prachatice, Czech Republic (August 9-10) and Zittau, Germany (August 16) before the duel season-decider/world championships in Molveno, Italy at the footstep of the Dolomites. (September 25).
McPherson, a five time race winner during his six full seasons on the XTERRA circuit, is all in on this year’s World Cup and can see the off-road brand slowly growing to become a viable career option.
“In XTERRA, it’s not feasible to race for a living yet. Minimal prize money, extensive travel and minimal at event support [accommodation/ rentals/ transfers] make it difficult,” McPherson said.
“But XTERRA run professional events with the introduction of the World Cup and exciting race formats like short track so it is only a matter of time before sponsors jump at an untapped market.
“I have found the support for XTERRA athletes in Europe is very strong, often supported by local federations or clubs/teams. This is showing with the number of XTERRA races throughout Europe and that Europeans are at the forefront of most pro races.
“For the rest of the world, t is a hobby sport that requires a lot of family support and work to help pay for trips.”
