Stoltz, Bucher win XTERRA West Championship
Press Release / 16.04.2012
Emotion and excitement ruled the day at the XTERRA West Championship in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada as XTERRA icon Conrad ‘the Caveman’ Stoltz rode a wave of adrenaline to victory in honor of his father Gert who passed away on Monday, while Renata Bucher somehow out-stretched the defending XTERRA World Champ Lesley Paterson at the tape in the closest women’s finish in the sports history.
“I thought about my Dad a lot, and Liezel, and our faith that has carried us through this,” said Stoltz, who pointed to the heavens as he crossed the finish line. “This one is for my Dad. Tomorrow, we’ll go home for his funeral.”
A cold, rainy, overcast day greeted athletes from around the U.S. for the 9am start in 57-degree Lake Las Vegas. Three-time Aquathon World Champ Richard Stannard from the United Kingdom led the charge as expected, posting the fastest 1.5K swim in 18:11, followed by Dan Hugo (-24), Branden Rakita (-35), Craig Evans (-44), and Stoltz (-58 seconds).
“I lost a bit of time on the swim but it wasn’t too cold and I felt good on the bike and made it up,” said Stoltz, who reeled in all four early and started to build his lead from there. “My bike was set-up really well thanks to Specialized being out here. Last night I made a last minute tire change and my set-up was perfect for this course. I was happy to make three minutes on Dan and more than four on Josiah (Middaugh). You need at least four because Josiah makes a minute up on each hill.”
Middaugh indeed had the fastest run of the day and caught Hugo, but couldn’t reel in the Caveman whose winning time of 2:08:22 was nearly two minutes faster. It’s the fourth straight year Stoltz and Middaugh have finished first and second at this race, with Stoltz now leading the rivalry 3-to-1.
“This is one of the hardest runs on the tour, with really steep hills, and rough terrain. The AVIA trail running shoes really handled this moon-like, lunar surface well though.”
Hugo held on for third while Aussie Chris Legh ran his way past Branden Rakita and Craig Evans to finish fourth.
Rakita placed fifth, and David Henestrosa from Spain put together his best performance in years to finish 6th. Evans was 7th, the UK’s Doug Hall placed eighth in his first-ever XTERRA, and Lewis Elliot ran his way up to 9th despite some troubles on the bike in his return to the off-road format.
“It’s good to see a lot of new athletes like Chris Legh, and the new ladies as well, welcome to all of you,” said Stoltz (pictured courtesy Nils Nilsen) at the awards ceremony.
“Special thanks to Specialized and AVIA who came out here and supported us. I think it’s a token to the sport that it keeps on growing and big time companies are coming out to support the athletes. It’s a great thing.”
PRO MEN
Pl Name Age Hometown Time Points
1 Conrad Stoltz 38 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:08:22 100
2 Josiah Middaugh 33 Vail, Colorado 2:10:02 90
3 Dan Hugo 26 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:13:07 82
4 Chris Legh 39 Melbourne, Australia 2:13:35 75
5 Branden Rakita 31 Colorado Springs, Colorado 2:15:18 69
6 David Henestrosa 35 Clearfield, Utah 2:16:11 63
7 Craig Evans 34 Hendersonville, Tennessee 2:16:47 58
8 Doug Hall 24 Bath, Great Britain 2:18:03 53
9 Lewis Elliot 31 Scottsdale, Arizona 2:20:39 49
10 Will Ross 22 Anchorage, Alaska 2:21:41 45
Also: Adam Wirth (41), Cody Waite (37), Chris Ganter (34), Damian Gonzalez (31). DNF: Richard Stannard
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