From Mud to Medals: Australian Cross Triathlon Champions crowned at Snowy Mountains

Ben Forbes and Laura Gillard ruled the rugged and tackled the toughest trails to take the 2025 Australian Cross Triathlon Championship titles at the Trex Snowy Mountains.

Forbes triumphed to claim the Australian Championship in the men’s race, finishing in an impressive 2:14:57, crossing the line ahead of Tom Fisher in second, and Daniel Luke in third.

“It means a lot to take the national title.” Forbes said.

“I managed to good gap out of the water but lost it all in T1 – which I need to improve.

“I smashed the bike leg as hard as I could with a broken spoke banging every revolution, which was quiet distracting. I couldn’t see where the other guys were so I didn’t let up.

“The first lap of the run I was fighting a stitch because of the roller-coaster of a track but then it opened up and I managed to hold of fast-feet Tommy (Fisher).”

Forbes, whose win marks his second Australian Cross Triathlon title after winning in 2023, now sets his on bigger goals for the year ahead, starting with the XTERRA Triathlon circuit.

Alongside fellow off-road triathlete Hannah-Lee Young – who secured silver in the women’s Australian Cross Triathlon Championship race – Forbes will race the eight-race World Cup circuit, which will take him to diverse locations across Oceania, Europe and America.

“I’m happy to perform the way I did because it confirms the confidence of my training coming into the full Pro Men XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon Series.

“This year’s goal is to become the Asia-Pacific champion and finish top-ten in the World Cup overall.

“The biggest challenge for Hannah and I will be just getting to races as self-supported athletes – but that’s all part of the adventure.”

Three-time XTERRA World Champion Solenne Billouin claimed line honours in the female race. However, with the Frenchwoman ineligible for the title, the Australian Championship was contested separately.

Gillard took home the Australian Championship with a time of 2:40:40, finishing ahead of Hannah-Lee Young in second and Lucie van der Schalk in third.

“(I’m) absolutely stoked to take the national title,” Gillard shared via Instagram.

“I really wanted this for this year and happy for it to come true!

“It’s an absolute honour to share this podium with this amazing bunch of people. Even though we don’t get to see each other that often, every year, I love coming back and seeing everyone.

“That was hard, that was so hard,” she said, immediately after taking the tape.

“The swim actually wasn’t too bad, it was better than I thought. It was a non-wetsuit, but I actually enjoyed that. The water was so good.

“The ride was hard. I was pushing the whole way thinking the girls behind me were going to catch at some point. Luckily, I held them off.”

While Gillard celebrated her Australian Championship win, she couldn’t quite claim bragging rights over her father, Damian, who also raced at the event.

In a humorous twist, he claimed the 50-54 men’s age group title, finishing just three seconds quicker than his daughter.

“We didn’t find out until after, because he started three minutes after me,” Gillard said.

“But (when we found out) he said, ‘the old dog still rules the roost’ and did a fist pump.”

Over 200 triathletes took to the TreX Snowy Mountains course as the 2025 Australian Championship season officially kicked off, with titles up for grabs in both elite and age group categories.

Age group athletes, spanning categories from 16-19 Women to 60+ Men battled it out, with fourteen age group champions emerging from the event.

2025 Australian Cross Triathlon Champions

To learn more about the Australian Championships, click here.