By Press Release

Picture perfect Rocky Mountain conditions with blue skies and cool breezes greeted another stellar field for the second-of-four big events in the Nissan Xterra National Championship Series.   The race was as exhilarating as the weather, with Middaugh - the young up-and-comer - shocking a strong contingent of international superstars by posting the fastest bike split of the day and holding on during the run for his first-ever major victory in the sport.

It's the first win for an American in the last 12 XTERRA Championship races, and how it all unfolded made for a truly memorable day.

Middaugh came out of the water in 20th place, nearly two full minutes behind XTERRA Italy champ David Henestrosa from Spain, and more than a minute-and-a-half behind Conrad"the Caveman" Stoltz and Richmond winner Sylvain Dodet.   In his first pro race Hawaii's Chad Seymour had the fastest swim.

"It was my best swim ever," said Middaugh, who's also a two time national snowshoe champion.  "I was still two minutes behind the leaders but was ahead of Justin Thomas, and with Tyler Johnson, and some of the other guys that are usually a minute ahead of me, so I knew I had a good swim and I just had to put everything else together."

Did he ever.  In what was universally attributed to his familiarity with the altitude (lives half-hour away in Vail and likely rode the course more, and traveled less, than anyone) Middaugh peeled off one rider after another during the 2,000-foot climb to the Summit of Keystone Mountain at more than 11,000 ft. elevation.

More impressive was what he did when he got there.   Dodet, LeBrun, Henestrosa, and Justin Thomas were all within striking distance (30 seconds or so) at the top- until Middaugh started down.

“I knew I could bomb the downhill because I've been riding the course and I was going to go as hard as I could down that hill.   I bombed everything pretty good," he said.   His split was 1:12:19, a minute-thirty faster than the second–best split put up by Justin Thomas.   LeBrun estimated that he put 1:30 on him and Dodet during the descent.

“He was just in front of me and every time I saw him he'd go a little faster, and I kept saying,"Who is this guy".   I catch Sylvain and only two guys ahead but they are very close like 20 seconds at the summit, but he put a lot on the downhill," said LeBrun.  â€œI didn't want to play with my luck by going very hard on the downhill and risk losing everything.   But I think Josiah was very, very strong today.   He was great in the altitude."

By the time the chase pack got to the bike-to-run transition Middaugh had been on the run course for more than two minutes.   Still, it was not a comfortable cushion.

“I was excited when I got off the bike and had a big lead but then when I saw who was coming, I was like, oh crap, because I knew that Henestrosa, Sylvain, Justin and Nico can post run times two minutes faster than mine sometimes.   I knew if I ran hard I could give up a minute, but that was about it."

The thin air would work in Middaugh's favor, however.   Henestrosa was the closest, followed by Thomas and then the two Frenchmen.   Dodet and LeBrun pulled in Thomas quickly, and Nico dropped Dodet at the climbing section midway through the run.   The ensuing cat-and-mouse game with LeBrun and Henestrosa that followed could have cost both the win.

“When I caught Henestrosa I thought he could run very fast and I was afraid about him at the end so I tried not to run faster than I could because I knew he could stay with me and then maybe go faster at the end for the win," said LeBrun, the 2004 XTERRA Czech Champion.  "Maybe that's why I lost the race."

They both had Middaugh in sight, but while they worried about each other Josiah kept going right on through the finish arch filled with hometown fans.

LeBrun, who won the XTERRA Czech Championship three weeks ago, turned it on in the last half-mile to come in second.   Nico is currently second in both the XTERRA European Tour (with only XTERRA Germany remaining) and XTERRA U.S. Series standings.   He trails 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Jan Rehula in Europe, and friend Dodet in the U.S.

Henestrosa, who racing in just his third-ever XTERRA led on the bike all the way until the summit, placed third.   Only 27 seconds separated the top three.

Dodet held on for fourth place and now leads the pro series after two events with 175 points, and Justin Thomas finished on the podium once again despite racing with a leg injury.

“I suffered like a dog on the run," he said.  "I had a pretty good descent on the mountain bike and came into t2 in third and was telling myself just to get top 5 and I'd be pleased.   It's probably the hardest top five I've ever had so I'll take it."

He now has five straight podium finishes, and currently sits 4th in the XTERRA European Tour Standings.

Stoltz had an admittedly bad day but still finished sixth- five minutes behind Middaugh.   Greg Krause from Denver, in his second XTERRA as a pro, had an impressive day finishing 7th.   Australian Jason Chalker, and Colorado standouts Ryan Ignatz and Brian Smith rounded out the top 10.