Tivemos este fim de semana em Maui o campeonato do Mundo XTERRA onde Julie Dibbens da Grã-Bretanha ganhou pelo segundo ano consecutivo e o Bttista espanhol Ruben Ruzafa que conseguio ganhar apesar do deficite de 2 minutos na natação.


Oct. 26, 2008 -- There was no surprise in the women’s race at the XTERRA World Championship, held in Maui, Hawaii this morning, as defending champion Julie Dibens of Great Britain picked up her second Maui win. The big surprises came in the men’s race, as ex-mountain bike phenoms Ruben Ruzafa of Spain and Michael Weiss of Austria finished first and second, respectively.

In the men’s race, Ruzafa, who qualified for the Spanish Olympic team in mountain biking this year (but did not compete), had a lot of ground to make up after the swim. The leaders exited the 1.5-km swim in just over 18 minutes, with Canadian Brent McMahon heading up the charge to T1. Just behind McMahon were France’s Olivier Marceau, Kona runner-up Eneko Llanos of Spain and Americans Seth Wealing, Craig Evans and Branden Rakita. Ruzafa exited the water two minutes behind the leaders, with Weiss another 40 seconds back.

Once the contenders made their way onto the brutal bike course, it was clear that Ruzafa and Weiss’ mountain bike skills were on a different level than the rest of the competitors. Ruzafa easily assumed the lead and stormed through the bike-leg in 1:31:35 to enter T2 first. Ruzafa was only bested by Weiss on the bike, who rode four seconds faster, but was still half-a-minute behind after his swim deficit. Americans Josiah Middaugh and Canadian Mike Vine were the only two remotely close to the pair of leaders on the bike, both riding about three minutes slower. Defending men’s champ Conrad Stoltz of South Africa flatted on the bike and came into T2 five minutes behind Ruzafa and Weiss.

Ruzafa and Weiss both finished the 10-km run in a tick under 45:30, which was more than enough to secure the one-two punch. Ruzafa crossed first, in 2:37:36, with Weiss 34 seconds behind. McMahon posted the fastest run-split of the day (43:18), but he couldn’t make up enough ground and settled for third, 2:46 behind Weiss.

In the women’s race, super swimmers Linda Gallo (USA) and Christine Jeffrey (CAN) were the first out of the water (finishing alongside the lead men), with Dibens exiting in third.

Just like last year, Dibens was flawless on the bike-leg, tearing through the grueling course in 1:49:34. Only American Shonny Vanlandingham was able to ride faster (1:49:25), but Vanlandingham was over six minutes back after the swim and was forced to settle for second at transition. Kabush also had a strong ride, posting a 1:52:20 split and entering T2 just behind Vanlandingham.

Kabush was by far the strongest runner of the day, posting a 49:55 split, but the gap to Dibens was too much to make up. Dibens ran 55:30 – 5:35 slower than Kabush – but finished 59 seconds ahead to secure the win. Kabush’s stellar run put her at the finish second, well ahead of third-place Vanlandingham, who finished in 3:10:49. Three-time World Champ Melanie McQuaid dropped out after the bike due to stomach issues.

E para os mais curiosos aqui vai um link interessante...http://www.xterra.tv/