Ruzafa / Philipp captured titles at XTERRA France Championship

Press Release / 03.07.2017

The win is the sixth this year, for the three-time XTERRA World Champ Ruben Ruzafa and the first for Philipp ( 3x Ironman 70.3 titles), in her debut at XTERRA racing.

XTERRA World Tour managing director Dave Nicholas was on-site to take in all the action and brings us this report...
 
Who?  We all recognize Ruben Ruzafa and to see him winning is nothing new.  But who is Philipp?  Philipp is Laura Philipp and she stamped her name hard and clear on one of the toughest, longest XTERRA's in a while.
 
Ruzafa's win was not easy.  He gained the lead on the first bike lap after a decent swim, but Sam Osborne would not go away.  After Osborne, Bradley Weiss kept the Spanish Champion company and then Arthur Forissier took his turn challenging Ruzafa.  "I just kept my pace the whole race" said Ruben "the other guys would come up close but I did not attack.  I knew my limits and rode fast but did not want to get into a fight".  As it turned out the others could get close but could not stay with him for long.  His bike was over 4 minutes faster than any other and he left T2 covered in mud with a healthy lead.
 
Playing stealth was Belgian Yeray Luxem.  "I had a race only a few days ago in Belgium so I was not expecting too much.  I came here to get some good points for the European Tour Championship and am really happy with second" he shivered.  Luxem had a very quick bike and came into T2 in 3rd behind Bradley Weiss.  Brad was riding really well putting in the 2d fastest bike but suffered a hard fall on the slick wood of the Charbonnier ramps just meters from T2.  "Yeah, that kind of took some out of me.  There were people I was lapping who were so slow, I went around one on the way down but he moved and I went off line and couldn't hold it".  I saw him go down and it was a stunner.

Young Arthur Forissier, last weeks winner in Switzerland was having another great race coming into T2 in 4th.  Luxem was quickly by the ailing South African and Forissier was soon past Brad and into 3rd.  But nobody was going to touch Ruben this day.  And so it ended with Ruzafa up 2.5 minutes on Luxem who was a minute ahead of Forissier.  Josiah Middaugh had come to France to test how strong the European riders were.  "I always heard what a great race this is and it did not disappoint" he said with his usual Josiah smile.  "I fell a lot and one time bent my rear derailleur.  The chain kept coming off so I bent it pretty hard and then the chain was hitting the wheel.  I finally got it about right but it never did shift well".  It was good enough for 5th and a great look at what his competition will be for Maui.

While it never rained hard on race day, it did the night before.  The earth here soaks the water up well and the trails were all ridable, but very slick.  By the time 900 decouvert (sprint) athletes did the course and 900+ more finished the first lap it was SLOW.  Ruzafa's 2nd lap was 9 minutes slower than his first, womens winner Phillip was 10 minutes slower on her second lap.  And it was cold with the water temp about 10 degrees warmer than the air.

Each year the Charbonnier family creates a new monster ramp.  This year was no exception and they built it in two parts.  The first was a quick climb to the top of a ramp and then a steep downhill over some moguls and into a tight, off camber turn.  The second was another uphill with an S turn and then a wicked run down and around a 45 degree banked U turn.  Both down ramps and the banked U turn were getting slick.  Some riders simply lacked the confidence to let their bike roll down the ramp and tried to walk it – and slipped and slid and usually dropped their bike.  Others rode it but touched their brakes and down they went.  It was mud wrestling on mountain bikes.
The race staff was terrific and helped fallen riders get back up, get their bike and carry on.  This was necessary as people were at the top of the ramp and when a rider fell and was sprawled at the bottom everything stopped.  There were literally queues, at times, waiting to ride the ramps.  The crowd howled and cheered and every rider laughed it off and just kept going.  Fantastic Live More spirit if I ever saw it.

Brigitta Poor had an excellent race, got into second early on the bike and kept it the entire race.  Helena Erbenova just kept coming strong and finished up into 3rd after coming out of the water with a 3 minute deficit to Brigitta.  Nicole Walters had the fastest swim and was holding onto 3rd for most of the race but Erbenova ran her down as well as Myriam "the rocket" Guillot-Boisset to take 4th leaving Walters, in her first year in XTERRA an excellent 5th.

The story was all Laura Philipp.  Second fastest swim, fastest bike and fastest run.  This created an 8 minute win in her first XTERRA and she picked one of the hardest anywhere to make her debut.  "I like riding my mountain bike but don't really train on it as much as I would like.  The last two weeks I did spend a lot of time riding it.  I also don't run on trails very much and this honestly was my first trail run.  My coach taught me to run like I was stepping on hot coals and it really works over the rocks and roots".  Philipp is from Germany, speaks perfect English and outside riding and running, where she clearly is a rocket, is simply a sweet woman.  "I will go to Maui" she grinned.  From the looks of today, we have some new and very fast women coming over to challenge double champ Flora Duffy this October.

We now have 3 weeks off before Italy for everyone to regroup.  We have 5 races left this season and there are at least a dozen age group races that could go any of several ways.  What we've seen in the pro ranks is that while he can be beaten occasionally, Ruben Ruzafa is still the King of the Hill.

Arthur Forissier has matured and is now a dangerous competitor.  Xavier Dafflon has put in some incredible rides and his swim is improving.  Here, his bike was stolen from his hotel and Belgium organizer Florian Badoux loaned him his "lefty".  A very difficult task to take a totally different bike and try to make a long comeback through 130 others after losing 4 minutes on the swim.

Bradley Weiss has been an animal on the bike these past couple races but has suffered from some bad luck.  Yeray Luxem has won 1 this year and has the speed to challenge anybody.  Sam Osborne continues to swim and ride well and needs to get in a decent run to top the field.
For the women we now have a new face in Laura Philipp, Michelle Flipo has shown she is as fast as ever, Brigitta is gaining speed and consistency as she matures, Helena has won 3 and is always a threat no matter where.  Nicole Walters has shown she can outswim most and is also gaining confidence on the bike.
 
What has been a fabulous start to the 2017 season looks to continue.  We have had 5 different men's and women's winners in 9 races and it ain't over yet.  Have a great July and we are all looking forward to a return to Lago di Scanno in Abruzzo in 3 weeks.