Julia Simon and Fabien Claude have won the Christmas race for the second consecutive time

The 20th Christmas race took place in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, featuring the annual World Team Challenge exhibition relay.

The competition took place in the format of a single mixed relay, divided into two parts. First, the participants ran a mass start race, after which a pursuit based on the results determined the winners. This year, ten teams participated in the event.

After the mass start, the team of France, consisting of Julia Simon and Fabien Claude, took the lead. In second place were Germany-1 with Hanna Kebinger and Benedikt Doll, and in third were Ingrid Tandrevold and Sturla Holm Laegreid from Norway.

The pursuit race followed, and the team of Julia Simon and Fabien Claude confidently defended their title, securing the victory (they also celebrated victory in 2022). The silver medal went to Norway's Ingrid Tandrevold and Sturla Holm Laegreid, while in a battle for bronze against Roman Rees, Slovenian Jakov Fak claimed the third spot.

Christmas Race 2023 Results:

1. France (Julia Simon, Fabien Claude) - 34:43.5 minutes
2. Norway (Ingrid Tandrevold, Sturla Holm Laegreid) - +57.5 seconds
3. Slovenia (Polona Klemenčič, Jakov Fak) - +1:08.2
4. Germany-1 (Janina Hettich-Walz, Roman Rees) - +1:10.1
5. Ukraine (Yuliia Dzhyma, Dmytro Pidruchnyi) - +1:30.5