Serrano, Bucher win XTERRA Mexico on a beautiful day in Tapalpa
Press Release / 07.08.2012
The morning sunrise shined a spotlight on the beauty of Valle de Lago, a private lake at 6,900-feet just up the road from the bustling tourist town of Tapalpa. The kids started the day, nearly 100 from six-to-sixteen-years-old, with mini XTERRA triathlons that made everyone smile with pride and optimism about the future of XTERRA in Mexico.
The pros were next with a non-wetsuit swim (legal for age groupers) that was right on the bubble of being wetsuit legal. Christine “Big Fish” Jeffrey was thrilled, Shonny Vanlandingham was not.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that I tend to implode in cold water,” smiled the 2010 XTERRA World Champ.
Jalisco-native Irving Perez was first out of the water by more than a minute and went on to finish fourth overall, his fourth consecutive top five finish at XTERRA Mexico. The race, however, would be an epic battle between the 2008 Olympian (Serrano) and last year’s Mexico runner-up Branden Rakita. The two came out of the water together (four seconds difference), went back-and-forth on the bike together (three seconds difference) and were neck-and-neck the entire run. The ultimate difference was 23 seconds.
“That was the closest race I’ve ever been in at an XTERRA for sure,” said Serrano. “We went back-and-forth the whole course. I was so close to first towards the end so I gave it a go on a downhill and my legs responded.”
Serrano had a flat on the bike, Rakita dropped his chain, and they both slipped side-to-side with the mud but after roughly 1,200 feet of climbing on the bike, which tops out at nearly 8,000-feet, they hit T2 (which sits at 6,700-feet) together.
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