Batelier, Bucher in Portugal
France's Franky Batelier won the opening round of the European XTERRA season with a great performance in Figueira da Foz, Portugal. The women's title was taken by Renata Bucher who padded her already impressive resume.
Portuguese ITU Pro Bruno Pais led the men out of the water in this inaugural XTERRA event in Portugal, but soon after Batelier charged into the lead on the bike.
Batelier was worried about Pais and tried to put some distance between himself and the local favorite. "I wanted to open it up fast so he would not try to catch me - he is a very fast runner," said Batelier.
While leading the race, Batelier had an incident with a photo bike moto and hit the ground quite hard according to Kahuna Dave Nicholas of XTERRA. But the French Pro shook off the crash and push on in the race. In the end he crossed the line more than 5 minutes up on Pais. Nicolas Lebrun grabbed the final podium spot, but barely. He had to run past Yeray Luxem from Belgium in the last 200 meters of the race.
Renate Bucher had a lot of pressure in the race from Marion Lorblanchet who started her day with a great swim and then kept a strong pace on the bike too. It actually took Bucher until the last lap of the bike before she finally caught the flying French Pro.
"This course is not too technical so it’s hard for me to catch these strong riders" said Bucher to XTERRA media.
Bucher went on to win the race and with it her 21st career title in the last 5 years. Lorblanchet held on to the runner-up spot as she crossed the line 2:20 minutes later. Portuguese Pro Maria Areosa had a great race on home soil and finished third, holding off Carina Wasle from Austria by 2 minutes.
Local favorite Maria Areosa took the lead early and went smoothly all the way to the finish. "I can’t wait to go to Maui" she cried in joy, referring to the XTERRA World Championship race site on Oct. 24.
The city provided fantastic security with roads closed and police and marshals everywhere. While last night’s rains made the trails slippery, the overall opinion was Portugal is a fantastic race location with fabulous food, world class table wine, and a beach that just won't quit. Next year the organizers are thinking of moving the event back into May to go with XTERRA Italy in Sardinia. Now that is a trip you really have to consider - one week in Portugal and one in Sardinia. Start saving now.
XTERRA Portugal
Figueira da Foz, Portugal / April 3
Top 10 men
1. Franky Batelier (FRA) 2:16:35
2. Bruno Pais (POR) 2:21:53
3. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:22:524. Yeray Luxem (BEL) 2:23:05
5. Lino Barruncho (POR) 2:25:12
6. Fabien Combaluzier (FRA) 2:25:527. Lieuwe Boonstra (RSA) 2:27:18
8. Jim Thijs (BEL) 2:29:11
9. Francisco Villaescusa (ESP) 2:30:16
10. Borja Gabriel Figueroa (ESP) 2:31:06
Also: Llewellyn Holmes, Graham Wadsworth, Sam Gardner, Lars van der Eerden, Tim McDowell, Rafael Gomes, Custodio Antonio, Guillermo Oliva, Jesus Colas, Peter Hawkins, Jim McConnel, Gabriel Faci, Sergio Dias, Nuno Neves
Top 10 women
1. Renata Bucher (SUI) 2:44:44
2. Marion Lorblanchet (FRA) 2:47:05
3. Maria Areosa (POR) 2:51:26
4. Carina Wasle (AUT) 2:53:275. Myriam Guillot (FRA) 2:55:22
6. Maud Golsteyn (NED) 2:56:26
7. Judy van den Berg (NED) 2:57:29
8. Darrelle Parker (GBR) 3:02:03
9. Alexandra Borrelly (FRA) 3:08:48
10. Yolanda Magallon Vallejo (ESP) 3:29:17
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