Madsen, Nieva win XTERRA Uruguay

Press Release / 10.05.2018

Canada's Karsten Madsen and Argentina's Carolina Nieva captured the inaugural XTERRA Uruguay elite titles in the spectacular town of Punta del Este on Saturday, May 5, 2018.
 
It's the first win of the season for Madsen, fourth of his XTERRA career, and the first win as an elite for Nieva.
 
In the men's race, Madsen posted the fastest swim and bike splits and led from wire-to-wire. "After going a long time without winning a race and making many major changes I was motivated to prove myself," said Madsen.  "I got back to my ways of putting together complete races, getting the lead early, and not letting it go. Kieran has been racing extremely well this year and I was excited to go head to head with him as he is one of XTERRA's fastest runners."
 
McPherson's time on the run was almost a minute faster than Madsen's but wasn't enough to close the gap. "I had some great racing leading into XTERRA Uruguay at my last three events, and have been posting the fastest run splits," said McPherson, who won XTERRA Argentina, was 2nd at XTERRA Chile, and third at the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship. "It shows I am able to finish well."
 
McPherson is training to be in top form for both XTERRA Brazil on May 12th and XTERRA Oak Mountain on May 19th.  In both races, he will again go head to head with Madsen. "It's an absolute thrill to be back on top and doing it in a fashion that I like," said Madsen.  "I've seen a lot of indications in my training that this was coming and could be possible. I've worked hard and will keep pushing to have this only be the start.  I want to win Brazil and Alabama still. A task that will not be easy as I'll have many other great athletes to best and will have to beat people I've never beaten before."
 
Madsen's final time was 2:02:10, just about two minutes in front of McPherson, who finished in 2:04:28. Alex Roberts was third in 2:12:03.

Tentative Elite Men's Results
Pos     Name, NAT     Time     Points
1     Karsten Madsen, CAN     2:02:10     75
2     Kieran McPherson, NZL     2:04:28     67
3     Alex Roberts, NZL     2:12:03     61
4     Andres Darricau, ARG     2:13:40     56
5     Alejandro Sfriso, ARG     2:13:58     51
6     Rafael Juriti, BRA     2:16:47     47
7     Gabriel Angeloro, URU     2:26:10     43

In the women's race, XTERRA Costa Rica champ Kelli Montgomery was first out of the water with Kara LaPoint on her heels and Nieva in fourth. LaPoint pulled ahead on the bike, but Nieva hunted them both down on the run with the fastest split of the day by about four minutes. Her overall time was 2:30:25 with LaPoint just behind her in 2:30:48. Montgomery was third in 2:36:50. "A while ago I said I'd love to win an XTERRA, which seems pretty ambitious for someone who just started as an elite," said Nieva. "But what good is it to only set goals that are attainable? Today I can say that I did it. And I'm proud of my achievement because I put all my energy into it."
 
Nieva is the reigning 25-29 division XTERRA World Champ. This year, she was third at XTERRA Chile and fourth at XTERRA Argentina in March.
 
Today's race was LaPoint's first race back after breaking her big toe in March. Originally, she planned to race in XTERRA Chile and XTERRA Argentina, but delayed her season due to the injury. "It was pretty heartbreaking to have to miss out on those first few races," said LaPoint. "I have been feeling great, and was well prepared to start the season. From here on out, I'm looking at doing the remainder of the XTERRA Pan Am tour stops."

Tentative Elite Women's Results
Pos     Name, NAT     Time     Points
1     Carolina Nieva, ARG     2:30:25     75
2     Kara LaPoint, USA     2:30:48     67
3     Kelli Montgomery, USA     2:36:50     61
4     Laura Mira Dias, BRA     2:44:39     56
5     Maria Lujan Soto, ARG     2:59:17     51