---

KAHUNA DAVE ON THE PRO RACE IN NV

Trey Garman / 24.04.2010

"Kahuna Dave" Nicholas, the managing director of the XTERRA World Tour, landed in Las Vegas last night and put together his thoughts on what might unfold during the pro race at the XTERRA West Championship on Sunday...

We head into the second decade of the 21st Century this weekend. Who will win?

I like young Dan Hugo to have a breakout season. He was hurt a good deal of last year and did not show his full potential. As the protégé of the great Conrad “the Caveman, is this the year that Daniel-San beats Mister Miyagi?

Nico Lebrun will be there but is never at peak this early in the year. He had a nice race in Portugal but “the Professor” likes to have his performance at the top in September and October. Josiah “the Quick” had his operation and was a killer in the winter sports. He really wants to not just be the first American - Josiah wants the top step of the podium. Top 5 men in Vegas? Stoltz, Hugo, Middaugh, Lebrun, Brian Smith. Branden Rakita and Cody Waite are lurking to unseat the big guns and Seth Wealing has beaten all of them, but one never knows which Seth will show up.

If the skies clear Renata will come to the desert and she has been super fast this spring. But no woman wins without having to deal with the many time champ Melanie McQuaid. Certainly Lesley Paterson is showing very strong this spring. She was second in the California 70.3 and the heat should not bother her much. We know that Christine Jeffrey will have a lead out of the swim and has been working hard on speed for the bike. Smiling Shonny Vanlandingham is always a threat and has been training hard in Hawaii. For this race we should see Mel, Lesley, Shonny, Renata and maybe Christine.

Regardless, Las Vegas is a very different course than anywhere else. Steep, rutted, hard packed and fast. It has all that. Passing is never a problem, so having two laps of the course makes viewing lots of fun without the hassle of the fast folks pushing the slower riders around.

It has been a long winter - time to get racing.