Bradley Weiss from Stellenbosch, South Africa and Flora Duffy from Devonshire, Bermuda captured the 22nd XTERRA World Championship off-road triathlon elite titles on a warm, sunny day in Kapalua, Maui on Sunday, 29 October 2017.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first XTERRA World title for Weiss, and the fourth in a row for Duffy. \u00a0With the win, Duffy joins XTERRA Hall of Famer Conrad Stoltz (South Africa) as the only other elite to win four titles, she is the first female to four, and is the only elite to win four straight.<\/p>\n
Both Weiss and Duffy each earned $20,000 USD for their respective victories. The total purse was $100,000 and the event was filmed for live viewing as well as international distribution.<\/p>\n
More than 800 endurance athletes \u2013 including six physically challenged athletes \u2013 from 52 countries competed in the event, which started with a one-mile rough water swim at D.T. Fleming Beach, continued with a 20-mile mountain bike ride that traversed the West Maui Mountains, and finished with a tough 6.5-mile trail run in the hot sun.<\/p>\n
There was more than 4,000-feet of combined climbing on the technical bike and run courses, which were in excellent condition despite pouring rain on Monday and Tuesday of this week.<\/p>\n
MEN’S RACE<\/strong><\/p>\n For Weiss, the day started with a magical swim.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t lose any time on the swim which was unbelievable,\u201d said Weiss, who has always been a strong biker and runner, but came out of the water more than two-minutes behind the swim leaders last year. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I did it. I just felt so comfortable in the water. I actually caught a wave at the end and caught up and got past the group. When I stood up on the sand and saw Ben and Flora and the whole group I just thought, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s often been said that you can lose an XTERRA race on the swim but you can\u2019t win it, but Weiss thinks he might have proven the theory wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cOne hundred percent I won the race on the swim,\u201d said Weiss, perhaps half in jest. \u201cIt\u2019s been letting me down all these years. When I stood up out of the water and saw Mauricio and Ben, I thought, \u2018Game on, here we go.\u2019 And I think mentally I won the race there. I was just so, so confident.\u201d<\/p>\n Weiss finished in 2:32:10 and was a humble champion in his first victory after three attempts on the Maui course.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Maui gods definitely looked after me this year,\u201d said Weiss at the awards ceremony. \u201cI\u2019m so happy to be here standing on the top of the podium. Well done to the guys standing around me. They brought out the best in me and I had to dig deep a few times and try to get a bit of belief going. Even when I was winning, I didn\u2019t think I deserved to be there, but I\u2019m super proud and super grateful.\u201d \u201cI got on the bike and I knew Ruben and Josiah would be coming,\u201d said Weiss. \u201cAnd I knew I had to put a gap on Mauricio. He\u2019s proven time and time again that he\u2019s putting the fastest run splits in.\u201d \u201cOnce Ruben caught me, I thought, \u2018Hang in there as long as you can,\u2019\u201d said Weiss. \u201cI made a little mistake on the last bit of single track and Ruben got away.\u201d<\/p>\n On the mountain bike ride, Weiss and Ruzafa swapped the first and second spots. Francisco \u201cPaco\u201d Serrano, who won ITU Cross Tri Worlds a few months ago, held tight to third place during the bike.<\/p>\n Weiss caught up to Ruzafa about one-mile into the run and put a charge into it, ultimately finishing down the chute with his arms outstretched, sharing high fives with the crowd.<\/p>\n WOMEN’S\u00a0 RACE<\/strong><\/p>\n Today was all about Flora Duffy. She led the swim, the bike, and the run for the women by a remarkable lead. By mile 15 on the bike, Duffy had an almost six-minute lead on runner up Barbara Riveros from Chile.<\/p>\n \u201cI did my first XTERRA World Championship in 2013, and I can vividly remember almost falling over running on that beach down there,\u201d said Duffy. \u201cSo, to be here today after winning four in a row is pretty unbelievable and pretty crazy to think about where I started. It\u2019s a very special day for me, and what made it even cooler was that Bradley Weiss \u2013 Bad Brad I like to call him \u2013 won his first world title. We\u2019ve done a lot of training together over the years. He helped me in my final prep to Rotterdam and I would like to think I helped him today.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2017 XTERRA Chile Champion, Barbara Riveros was in second place for most of the race after a solid swim. She finished in 2:56:11, about eight minutes behind Duffy. Laura Philipp was third in 2:57:24.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the bike, Flora was on another level, we all know that,\u201d said Riveros, a three-time Olympian, who missed the last two years at Maui because of injury. \u201cI\u2019m very happy to be at the finish in one piece and I\u2019m happy to be back. I definitely need to spend more time on the mountain bike to get to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Philipp, who won XTERRA France earlier this year in her first off-road race, she sat in third most all day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was tough from the beginning, but I was surprised I was fourth out of the water which was good for me,\u201d said Philipp. \u201cI\u2019ll definitely be back. The race was beautiful. I didn\u2019t have to worry about traffic. I was 100 percent concentrated.\u201d \u201cThe swim was crazy, but I lived,\u201d she laughed. \u00a0\u201cI was happy when I started the bike and I loved the course. It\u2019s really a power course, but I didn\u2019t drink enough so my legs cramped.\u201d<\/p>\n The untold story of the day comes from the Scottish Rocket Lesley Paterson, who was injured shortly after winning the XTERRA Pan America Championship in September and had been struggling with a stress fracture in her pelvis for the past month.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve only done one minute of run training in the last four weeks, and that was last night,\u201d Paterson finally admitted. \u201cIt was a challenge to get here but I wanted to come because I love the XTERRA family and I knew if I didn\u2019t come here I wouldn\u2019t experience it. And you know, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being out here and seeing everyone and suffering with everyone. I really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n Suzie Snyder, who finished sixth and top American in Maui for the second straight year, can relate. The XTERRA Pan Am Tour champ has been dealing with asthma and heart rate issues for the past few months.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m pretty relieved I can be done and recover,\u201d said Snyder. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed to be off the podium. It was a strong field, but when you don\u2019t have the preparation, you can\u2019t expect to be on the podium.\u201d The XTERRA World Tour gives athletes around the world\u00a0a chance to race in off-road triathlons and trail runs in some of the most diverse, spectacular, and challenging natural environments on the planet \u2013 from tropical jungles to snow-covered alps.\u00a0 Pro athletes compete for pro prize monies, while amateurs race for national titles and coveted slots to the\u00a0World Championship<\/a>\u00a0in Maui, Hawaii.<\/p>\n Fedhealth XTERRA South African Championship<\/u><\/strong>
\nAfter Weiss surprised himself with a great swim, he took a chance and charged hard from the beginning of the bike course.<\/p>\n
\nOn the bike course, Ruben Ruzafa, a tremendously skilled mountain biker, caught up to Weiss just before the second water station, but Ruzafa never had more than 30 seconds on his competitor.<\/p>\n
\nXTERRA European Champion Brigitta Poor posted a fabulous performance to finish in fourth.<\/p>\n
\nThe 2018 XTERRA World Tour<\/strong> will kick off in South Africa at the picturesque Grabouw Country Club (Western Cape) the weekend of 23 \u2013 25 February 2018.<\/p>\n
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