Category: Off season fun
Danny Hart- new kid on the (muddy) downhill block!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCMQPzKcFqs
AMAZING performance from 20 year old Danny Hart, winning UCI DH World Champs by 11 seconds! The (somewhat biased) British commentators gave quite a performance themselves…
The bike course here in Extremadura is a bit unusual, but its not easy and has some fun sections. (A large part of the bike is between the water and the green/blue pole)
Click here for ITU Cross Tri page from which I borrowed the below piece…
New legends will be made at first ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
24/04/11 at 8:26 am – Texto en español
A new chapter in ITU history will be written this weekend at the first ITU World Cross Triathlon Championships in Extremadura, Spain.
The inaugural elite world titles consist of a 1km swim, 20km mountain bike and 6km cross-country run, and some of the best triathletes in the world will descend on ‘The Ring’ in to decide the titles.
Spain has assembled an impressive team to lead the charge at home, with over 80 ITU World Cup appearances between the men and women on its roster as well as athletes who specialise in multisport disciplines. But triathletes from South Africa, Canada, Switzerland and the USA are also real contenders to hold one of those two history-making titles aloft come Sunday.
Elite Women
There are a number of women with an elite ITU history in the field, including ITU winter triathlon world champion and European cross triathlon champion Carina Wasle (AUT), former junior women’s world championship winner Marion Lorblanchet (FRA), and 2009 European Cross Triathlon champion Renata Bucher (SUI), but it’s hard to look past the experience of Canadian Melanie McQuaid.
McQuaid has never competed in an ITU race before, but she does have an incredible Xterra triathlon record. Xterra triathlon’s consist of a bike, mountain bike and cross-country run and McQuaid is a three-time World Champion in the discipline. What is even more remarkable is that she has reached the podium four more times, claiming silver medals in 2000, 2004 and 2007 and a bronze in 2009.
McQuaid biggest challenge is sure to come from 2010 Xterra world champion Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) but Lorblanchet, who has also made the podium at the Xterra championships before, Wasle, Bucher and fellow Canadian Christine Jeffrey are also contenders. Jeffrey has competed on the elite ITU World Cup circuit and has finished in the top-10 at the Xterra world titles for the past three years.
There are 26 women and 12 different countries represented in the elite women’s field. Hosts Spain will field the biggest team with five athletes, while Kyrgyzstan will have four on the start line.
Elite Men
The men’s field is full of experienced triathletes but it’s hard to look past two in particular when it comes to favouritism, South African Conrad Stoltz and Spaniard Eneko Llanos.
Both are two-time Olympians, competing in Sydney and Athens, and both came into cross triathlon with an aim to conquer it. So far, they have both done exactly that. Llanos has three Xterra world titles and Stoltz four, including an emotional one in 2007 when he came back from a career threatening bike crash the year before. They are also the two most recent Xterra world champions, Llanos won in 2009 before Stoltz in 2010. Stoltz is surely favourite for the first title, but the battle between these two veterans is set to be thrilling.
But the men’s field is so strong that Stoltz and Llanos can’t expect to have the podium all to themselves. There is one three-time Olympian, Switzerland’s Olivier Marceau, who has also reached an Xterra worlds podium before, while Josiah Middaugh (USA), Paul Embrechts (BEL) and Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales (ESP) could all play a part. Then there is the evergreen 53-year-old Rob Barel (NED). He initially retired after the Sydney Olympics, but made a comeback to triathlon in 2007, winning the European men’s cross triathlon title in the 50-54 age-group. But Barel then stepped up to the elite men’s field in 2008 and won that too, he’s sure to give the race a shake.
There are 35 in the men’s field, with 17 different countries represented. The USA will have the biggest team with six. Spain’s three-time Olympian Ivan Rana was a late withdrawal from the field.The championships will be the first international event at the “The Ring”, in Extremadura, an International Innovation Centre for outdoor sports.
Find more details about this event – 2011 Extremadura ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
7 XTERRA World titles right there. Chatting with fellow Avia athlete and Spanish ace, Eneko Llanos on the “bike course”
Was great to see the other old timers from my ITU days: Dutch legend Rob Barel, swimming ace Richard Stannard on a fully rigid 29er, and my Sydney Olympics break away buddy and XTERRA podium regular Olivier Marceau.
XTERRA Waco Texas and my 38th XTERRA career win
XTERRA Wac o- my 38th career win. A close one: Josiah was just 6sec back and Seth 15″
Story from XTERRAplanet.com
[(Cameron Park – Waco, TX) – South African Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz won his record-breaking 38th career championship on a picture-perfect, breezy, 75-degree afternoon at Cameron Park in Waco, Texas today.
It took every ounce of energy he had to make it happen as just 15 seconds separated the top three men. American Josiah Middaugh was more than three minutes behind Stoltz at the bike-to-run transition but made up all but eight seconds by the finish line.
“I looked behind me with about one kilometer to go and just saw these elbows and knees coming at me and knew I had to kick into another gear so Josiah wouldn’t catch me,” said Stoltz.
Middaugh, however, had already put it into his highest gear as he was in a full sprint the last mile trying to chase the Caveman down and simply couldn’t go any faster.
Caveman loved XTERRA Las Vegas
Red Caveman. by Nils Nilsen
This was a really fun race. During pre riding the course seemed easy and boring, but once you’re flying at race pace, things happen a lot quicker and the surface gets really loose and gravelly as the riders churn up the packed desert.
Not too sure what happened in the swim. I think I forgot to open my hands all the way to the 1st bouy. Once I opened them, things came around nicely, but I had already lost about 1.30 to a charging lead group.
Felt quite good on the bike and was smashing it. This is 29er country for sure and the high speeds made for some fun technical situations I didnt anticipate when pre riding half asleep with jet lag. Speaking of half asleep, I somehow managed to follow 2 lapped riders in front of me who had taken a wrong turn and gone off course. I remember sprinting down the hill, looking back at Branden Rakita (cool website dude!) (in 3rd then) and thinking “today I’m gonna pump you guys”, only to see the 2 lost ones in front stop and look around with that “wheres the trail?” body language…
Tarzan is here and he is new again
My friends call my dad “Tarzan.” Not sure why. 🙂
As you may know that he has been fighting colon cancer of the 2nd time over this past year. His plight had been an inspiration for me to win XTERRA Worlds in October– something which I knew would make him very proud. (“Stoltz” means “proud” in German.) Certain times had been extremely tough, especially Christmas and New Year. The chemo was hectic, he had a lot of pain and he sold all his cattle to focus his remaining strength on surviving. It didnt look good.
But in the last 4 or 5 weeks he suddenly improved and to such an extent, that he has jumped on his motorbike and rode the 2000km across the country to come and visit Liezel and I before I leave for the US on Monday. I’m not sure if it was Liezel’s visit to the farm a few weeks ago which perked him up, (I’m sure she played a large part) but he suddenly had a new bounce in his step, he played the piano after dinner, started planning fish farming and even rode his Stumpy 29er a few times.
We are so thankful he’ll be celebrating our engagement party tonight. My mom is in London for ITU stuff this week, but she’ll catch up at the wedding on Nov 11.
Liesbeth, Conrad & Gert Stoltz on the farm. March 13 2011
Tarzan and his daughter in law to be
