XTERRA Portugal Championship - Saturday

Trey Garman / 01.04.2010

An incredibly strong pro field is gathering in the small town of Figueira da Foz on Portugal’s central coast this week for Saturday’s XTERRA Portugal Championship.

There are 25 pro men and 11 pro women including defending 2009 XTERRA Euro Tour champs Franky Batelier from France and Renata Bucher from Switzerland on the start list.

The race is the first-ever XTERRA championship in Portugal, and the first of six championship events in the 2010 XTERRA European Tour.

Perhaps the most intriguing match-up is in the men’s race where Batelier (pictured) – who was perfect in Europe in 2009 with XTERRA victories in Italy, Czech, Germany, and Austria – faces off against three-time Tour champ (‘06-’08) and fellow countryman Nico Lebrun. Lebrun, who raced in the America Tour last year and won the XTERRA USA Championship, fell just 55 seconds shy of winning his second XTERRA World Title in Maui last year.

Also of note are Lieuwe Boonstra, the 2009 XTERRA South Africa Champ, and Sam Gardner who was third in the Euro Tour last year and fresh off his second straight XTERRA Saipan title.

Men’s Pro Start List:
BELGIUM - Yeray Luxem, Jim Thijs
ENGLAND - Sam Gardner, Peter Hawkins, Llewellyn Holmes, Tim McDowell, Graham Wadsworth
FRANCE – Franky Batelier, Fabien Combaluzier, Cedric Lassonde, Nico Lebrun
GERMANY - Jens Buder, Ronny Dietz
NETHERLANDS - Lars Eerden
PORTUGAL – Custodio Antonio, Lino Barruncho, Tiago Coutinho, Sergio Dias, Rafael Gomes, Nuno Neves
SOUTH AFRICA - Lieuwe Boonstra
SPAIN - Jesus Colas, Borja Figueroa, Francisco Jimenez, Guillermo Oliva