Ruben Ruzafa, Nicky Samuels win XTERRA Worlds

Press Release / 29.10.2013

­Maui turned up the heat and the competition turned up a notch at the 18th annual XTERRA World Championship on Saturday afternoon.

More than 800 endurance athletes from around the world participated in the off-road triathlon, which started and finished at The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hotel on Maui. The course consisted of a 1-mile swim, a 20-mile mountain bike, and a 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) trail run. Temperatures approaching 90 degrees turned it into a race of attrition as much as a race of competition. Ruben Ruzafa from Spain made a triumphant return to the top of the XTERRA World Championship podium after completing the course in 2 hours, 34 minutes, 34 seconds. Nicky Samuels from New Zealand took the women’s title in her first appearance at the XTERRA World Championship. She finished the course in 2:57:48. Ruzafa and Samuels each received $20,000 for their respective victories.

Ruzafa rallies to take men’s title

Some people like to visit the island of Maui every five years or so to enjoy the sun and sand of a Hawaiian island. Ruben Ruzafa likes to visit Maui every five years to win the XTERRA World Championship. Ruzafa, who is 29 and resides in Malaga, Spain, won the 2013 XTERRA World Championship for the second time in his career on a hot Saturday afternoon. Ruzafa won the XTERRA Worlds in 2008, got injured a few days before the 2009 race, then spent the next few years focusing on mountain bike races. “We knew that it was a really hot day,” Ruzafa said. “I drink a lot (of water). I drink three bottles on the bike so I can make it to the run relatively fresh. I pushed hard and I’m very, very happy.”

Ruzafa trailed the leaders by around two minutes after the swim, but he more than made up for it with an astonishing bike ride. He finished with a bike split of 1:30:11, which was the fastest of the day by more than a minute. He eventually reeled in all the leaders on the bike, and had a lead of about 45 seconds entering the run. “I was really surprised,” Ruzafa said of his ability to pass the other pros on the bike. Nobody got close to Ruzafa on the run, and he eventually finished 1 minute, 27 seconds, ahead of the rest of the field. “Two (XTERRA) championships is really, really good for me,” he said. “It’s a dream.”

Runner-up Asa Shaw from France (via England), also described his best XTERRA showing as “a dream.” If Ruzafa had the bike ride of the day, Shaw pulled off the run of the day. He passed four fellow pros on the run to capture second place. “I didn’t really know where I was,” Shaw said of his position in the pack. “I was just pushing as much as I could to catch anyone in front of me.” He finished with a time of 2:36:01, including the fastest run split of the day at 39:24. Shaw, 29, holds professional status on the XTERRA circuit, but he also works full-time as a carpenter in Saint-Raphael, France. “When I go to work every day, I see professional athletes who train every day,” he said. “For me to be able to do a podium (finish) today is enormous.”

Keeping with the dream theme, Ben Allen from Australia also described his career-best third-place finish as such. He placed 35th last year after experiencing mechanical problems with his bike. “I sort of had disappointment in the back of my mind, and I used that as motivation to really dig deep,” said Allen, 28. “I’ve worked so hard over the past two years, and to finish on the podium against a quality field is amazing.” Allen was one of the leaders out of the swim, and stayed in the top three for most of the bike and run legs. He was in second after the bike before Shaw passed him midway through the run course. “To ride with (Ruzafa), I had to ride like a madman,” Allen said. “I think I was the loosest guy out there on the corners, and just taking as many risks as possible to stay with Ruben, who’s a phenomenal rider.” Allen finished in 2:36:24, just 23 second behind Shaw.

Josiah Middaugh from Colorado placed fourth overall and was the top American finisher for the third year in a row and sixth time in his career. His time of 2:37:44, included a 1:34:36 bike split, which was second only to Ruzafa. “I’m happy with the effort I put into it, but I was a little too far behind out of the water,” he said. “I was about a minute, 30 (seconds) to the lead after the bike, and that’s usually a pretty good position, but it’s really hard to make up that much time on the run when you’re not feeling fresh and I put a lot into the bike trying to catch guys.”

Braden Currie from New Zealand placed fifth (2:39:05) for his best showing at XTERRA Worlds, and four-time former world champ Conrad Stoltz from South Africa was sixth (2:39:31). Nicolas Lebrun from France placed seventh overall in his farewell to the XTERRA World Championship as a pro. The 2005 world champion is retiring from professional competition to focus on coaching, and he was inducted into the XTERRA Hall of Fame the night before the race. “My dream was to be close to the top five, and today it happened,” he said. “I wanted to finish my career with a good race, a top 10. I didn’t want to struggle at the end. I wanted to enjoy the race –make it both a good race and a spiritual race, and that’s exactly what it was.” Rounding out the top 10 were Marvin Gruget from France in eighth (2:40:57), Leonardo Chacon from Costa Rica in ninth (2:42:08) and Brice Daubord from France in 10th (2:43:00). Chacon was near the lead for the first half of the race, but appeared to succumb to the conditions late in the bike and the run.

2013 XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PRO MEN RESULTS
 
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Ruben Ruzafa 29 Malaga, Spain 2:34:34 $20,000  
2 Asa Shaw 29 Frejus, France 2:36:01 $12,000  
3 Ben Allen 28 North Wollongong, Australia 2:36:24 $7,000  
4 Josiah Middaugh 35 Vail, Colorado 2:37:44 $4,000  
5 Braden Currie 27 Wanaka, New Zealand 2:39:05 $2,500  
6 Conrad Stoltz 40 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:39:31 $1,500  
7 Nicolas Lebrun 40 Digne-les-Bains, France 2:40:57 $1,000  
8 Marvin Gruget 21 Beaumes de Venise, France 2:42:03 $800  
9 Leonardo Chacon 29 Liberia, Costa Rica 2:42:08 $600  
10 Brice Daubord 28 Orleans, France 2:43:00 $500  
Also: Francois Carloni, Richard Murray, Kris Coddens, Dan Hugo, Jan Kubicek, Ryan Ignatz, Courtney Atkinson, Felix Schumann, Dennis Kruse, Will Ross, Jan Francke, Branden Rakita, Olivier Marceau, Fabio Guidelli, Adam Wirth, Kyle Leto, Jason Michalak, Chris Ganter, Andy Lee, Richard Stannard, Grant Bovee, Brian Astell, Tim Snow, Jim Thijs, Bruno Silva

Samuels stuns the women’s field

The women’s race had no such drama at the front, as Samuels jumped into the lead early in the bike and stayed somewhat-comfortably in front the rest of the way. “A bit shocked, really,” Samuels said of her successful debut at the XTERRA World Championship. “I didn’t know how my descending skills, or lack of, was going to stand up to the other girls.” Samuels, 30, who raced for New Zealand at the London Olympics and normally focuses on ITU road events, and said she practiced her mountain biking for only three weeks prior to this race. Still, she was able to post the second-fastest bike split among the females at 1:49:36. “I thought it would be hot and thought there would be a lot of sandy stuff on the bike,” she said. “I guess that’s what it might have been, but more of a mountain bike course with berms and jumps and things. It was kind of like a school cross country race when you’re 5 or 6. It was fun, something different and a nice way to end the season.” She is the first female from New Zealand to win the XTERRA World Championship (Hamish Carter took the men’s title in 2006).

Her victory ended the successful run of Scotland’s Lesley Paterson, who was the two-time defending XTERRA women’s world champ and had posted seven consecutive XTERRA race victories leading up to this year’s Worlds. “I just didn’t feel like I had the legs from the start and that’s a horrible course to feel like that,” said Paterson, 33. Paterson said she knew midway through the bike that victory was probably out of reach, but she still displayed her champion spirit by tracking down two fellow pros on the run to take second place. Paterson finished the bike in fourth, but passed Barbara Riveros first on the run, then staged a late surge to pass Flora Duffy in the final 100 meters of the run. “I came off the bike just way down, not where I wanted to be, and I just fought all the way,” she said. Paterson finished in 3:00:14, including the fastest run split of the day at 43:55.

Duffy, who is an Olympian from Bermuda, finished in third – five seconds after Paterson – for an impressive debut of her own at the XTERRA Worlds. “I’m shocked,” she said. “Coming into this race, I was kind of here just for fun.” On Paterson’s late pass for second place, Duffy said: “I couldn’t respond. I was just hoping there was nobody behind Lesley.” Riveros, who is an Olympian from Chile and placed second at the 2012 XTERRA Worlds, took fourth this year with a time of 3:01:43. Emma Garrard from Park City, Utah, continued her strong showing at the end of this season with a career-best fifth place finish (and first American). She finished in 3:01:49, just six seconds behind Riveros. It followed her career-best fourth-place finish at the XTERRA USA Championship last month. Chantell Widney from Canada was sixth (3:04:36) and Helena Erbenova from the Czech Republic was seventh (3:05:16). Colorado’s Shonny Vanlandingham, the 2010 XTERRA women’s world champ, placed eighth (3:05:43), and posted the fastest bike split at 1:49:23. Rounding out the top 10 were Jacqui Slack from United Kingdom in ninth (3:05:52) and Suzie Snyder in 10th (3:08:32).

PRO WOMEN
 
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Nicky Samuels 30 Wanaka, New Zealand 2:57:48 $20,000  
2 Lesley Paterson 33 Sterling, Scotland (San Diego, CA) 3:00:14 $12,000  
3 Flora Duffy 26 Boulder, Colorado 3:00:19 $7,000  
4 Barbara Riveros 26 La Pintana, Chile 3:01:43 $4,000  
5 Emma Garrard 32 Park City, Utah 3:01:49 $2,500  
6 Chantell Widney 33 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 3:04:36 $1,500  
7 Helena Erbenova 34 Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic 3:05:16 $1,000  
8 Shonny Vanlandingham 44 Durango, Colorado 3:05:43 $800  
9 Jacqui Slack 30 Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom 3:05:52 $600  
10 Suzie Snyder 31 Fredericksburg, Virginia 3:08:32 $500  
Also: Carina Wasle, Carla Van Huyssteen, Kathrin Muller, Heather Jackson, Renata Bucher, Danelle Kabush, Melanie McQuaid, Caroline Colonna, Sarah Backler, Dunia Gomez, Genzianai Cenni, Tamara Donelson, Katie Button, Daz Parker, Laura Dias, Mieko Carey

The XTERRA World Championship is presented by Paul Mitchell, AVIA, Maui Visitors Bureau, The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, and Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, and sponsored by Muscle Milk, Kapalua Resort, Gatorade, PowerBar, Island Air, T S Restaurants, Hawaii Tourism Authority, LifeProof, Footbalance, Zorrel, Rudy Project, Kona Brewing Company, Rockwell Watches, XTERRA Wetsuits, and XTERRA Fitness.