Marceau, Lorblanchet win XTERRA Switzerland
Press Release / 17.09.2011
September 12, 2011 (Prangins, Switzerland) - Three-time Olympian Olivier Marceau won the XTERRA Switzerland Championship for second straight year on Saturday, and earned his third XTERRA European Tour title (first since '05) in the process. In the women's race Marion Lorblanchet defended both her Swiss and Euro Tour titles, having won four of five championship events on this year's XTERRA European Tour.XTERRA managing director "Kahuna Dave" Nicholas was on-hand to take in the Euro Tour finale and brings us this report...
Ronny Dietz came into the last race of the year with just two points separating him and Marceau in the XTERRA European Tour standings. It all boiled down to who would beat who – made no difference where. When I spoke with Dietz on Thursday he was just recovering from a bad bout of stomach virus and was not feeling well. “I will be there but I am not sure how fast I can be†said the German pro. Somehow Marceau left his favorite running shoes in Germany and was expecting one of the men to bring them to Switzerland. At the last moment they could not make it and Marceau had to use an old backup pair of shoes. “I will be OK, I just need to make a big lead on the bike†said Marceau (pictured).
He did get that lead. The valiant Dietz came into T2 in second place just three minutes behind Marceau and only a few seconds ahead of a hard charging Nicolas Lebrun who put in the fastest bike split. “I am happy with my finish especially on a flat course†said climber Lebrun. When told he had the fastest bike time on a flat course, he smiled and did his best French shrug of the shoulders. Lebrun passed Dietz quickly and put in a solid run for second place. Karl Shaw, fresh off a great road tri season, joined his older brother Asa for the XTERRA final and came home third. He pushed Aussie swim specialist Ben Allen on the two lap swim and the two fought hard on the bike until Shaw found his legs to put one minute on Allen.
Allen had his best race since Italy and was 4th ahead of Belgium Jim Thijs. Poor Ronny Dietz was really courageous and not about to give up. He had a very tough run and soldiered on to 7th place. His reward was second overall for the Euro Tour.
