After making a late decision to race, Currie was unsure what to expect and was rapt to find himself not only competitive in his series debut but only 20 seconds behind Spain's Reuben Ruzafa in the Vallee de Joux-based off-road triathlon.
''I was stoked with the first race, especially to finish so close to double world Xterra champ Reuben,'' Currie said.
Currie was second out of the 1.5km swim, 30 seconds ahead of the third-placed athlete. Setting off at a hot pace on the 40km mountain bike, he took some time out of rivals Ruzafa and British world No 2 Asa Shaw.
''I held them off for the whole first lap then Reuben shot past me going into a technical downhill section but I managed to get him back on the inside, which I don't think he was expecting.''
Ruzafa, Shaw and Currie left the transition to the 10km off-road run together and Currie turned on his trademark speed, hoping to leave his rivals behind.
''Asa dropped off but Reuben caught me at the end of the first lap and we ran together until the last kilometre when he just took off and I couldn't stay with him on the climb.''
Currie will travel to Xonrupt, in northeast France, for the Xterra France race next weekend.
• Dunedin runner Anna Frost finished second at the world skyrunning championships in France at the weekend.
The event in Chamonix featured three disciplines: 80km, marathon and vertical kilometre.
Frost was second in a time of 12hr 48min, 8min behind the lead woman, Sweden's Emelie Forsberg.
The course started in Chamonix at an altitude of 1000m and climbed quickly to 2000m.
It then rose and fell, reaching 2600m at its highest point as it followed the mountains into Switzerland and back, climbing high points along the route. In all, there was an accumulated 6000m gain and 6000m descent back to the start.
Of the 115 women who started the race, only 50 finished. Of the 1000 men who started, 570 finished.
It was a gruelling race, starting at 4am, with runners needing to wear head torches until daylight broke.
The men's champion was Luis Alberto Hernandez in 10hr 27min. Three Australian men made the top 10.
