Stoltz and Van Huyssteen dominate at TOTALSPORTS XTERRA SA Champs
Press Release / 27.02.2012
Four times XTERRA World Champion Conrad Stoltz and top South African XTERRA Warrior Carla Van Huyssteen were not leaving anything to chance on Sunday, 26 February 2012 when they took on the Totalsports XTERRA South African Championship presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT in Grabouw.
A sprint from the start, Stoltz completed the 1.5km swim, 25km mountain bike and 10km trail run in a spectacular combined time of 02hours26minutes02seconds, while Van Huyssteen’s victory was just as sweet with a winning time of 02hours50minutes28seconds.
According to Stoltz, he came into the race with a game plan. “I didn’t want to overcook on the bike, so I kept it steady and conservative. The course is challenging in every aspect of mountain biking. It is definitely all that XTERRA is about. It is good to see the amount of new single track in Grabouw, making it a mountain biking destination like it used to be. On the run leg I opted not to take a swim in the stream as shortly afterwards there is a big climb. The wet clothes can easily add on a kilogram or two.
Athletes doing their first XTERRA today can be very proud of themselves as the route is long, hard and technical. Raynard Tissink also did really well finishing 5th overall. It is great to see athletes switching from road to XTERRA, it is not easy. It is always great winning at home. The sport of XTERRA is getting big in South Africa. I once again had awesome support from my wife Liezel. To get onto the mountain bike route she hitched a ride at the back of the event photographer’s motorbike. This is actually scary as I know how Fanus rides. Next time I’m going to pack in my motor cross gear for Liezel,” laughs Stoltz. Stuart Marais came in 2nd, while Dan Hugo finished 3rd.
Misfortune hit Hugo on the mountain bike route. Hugo came through transition in 3rd place behind Nico Pfitzenmaaier. It was at water point three on the trail run that Stuart Marais managed to pass Hugo. By water point four Marais had managed to pass Nico Pfitzenmaaier as well. Hugo, continuing to chase, managed to pass Phitzenmaaier in the final stages of the run and cross the finish line in third place.
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