Xterra USA Championships

By Trey Garman

Conrad Stoltz made it three-in-a-row and Jamie Whitmore defended her title on a picture perfect day at the Nissan Xterra USA Championship on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, Nevada this morning. In doing so the pair each made $14,400 ($10,000 for winning the XTERRA U.S. Pro Points Series and $4,400 for the race purse).

The course, arguably the toughest and most scenic in the Nissan Xterra USA Championship Series, combined a 1.5-kilometer (1-mile) swim in Lake Tahoe with a 35-kilometer (22-mile) mountain bike ride that climbed 2,500 feet along the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) trail run.

With a winning time of 2:35:10 the undisputed King of XTERRA racing over the past three years has now won nine of the past 11 championship races- but it's not getting any easier for him. Today the South African was locked in a spectacular battle with Steve Larsen, one of America's greatest mountain bikers.

The two traded leads all afternoon, each utilizing their strengths along the way, in what was one of the tightest races in XTERRA history - evident in the 33-second margin of victory. It started in the water (advantage Stoltz) where the 6-foot-3 Sydney Olympian strategically sat on the feet of pack leader Bryan Rhodes, a swimming specialist from New Zealand. Following a quarter-mile run to the bike transition Stoltz' swim split time was the fastest of the day at 21:11, two full minutes better than Larsen.

“If I didn't put time on Steve in the swim there was no way I would have beaten him," said Stoltz.

That's certain, as Larsen took very little time to reel in Stoltz on the initial steep bike climb up the sandy jeep road called Tunnel Creek. In the two previous battles between the two this year (Conrad beat Steve by 50-seconds in Big Bear before Larsen won in Keystone) Larsen has put time on Stoltz during the uphill climbs, while Stoltz made space on the downhills. This race was no different.

“Basically this first uphill we hit I pinned the gap, and about the last 10 minutes of climbing I managed to put about two minutes into him," said Larsen, who blazed the trail with the day's best bike time of 1:31:43.

The ultimate difference in the race, although there were many factors, could have been the 50-seconds Stoltz estimated he made back on the last downhill heading into the run transition.

“He made two minutes on the last climb, I was astounded.I rode as hard as I could but he just really took off and within a couple of seconds I couldn't even see him anymore, he was just gone. I knew I was going to need a good downhill to make up time so I let it loose and was flying down the jeep track."
Stoltz ended up heading into the run 76 seconds behind Larsen, with the impressive spectator turnout cheering loudly for both. The fan-friendly run coursed weaved two 5k loops in-and-out of forest trails surrounding the compound and as the race reports came in it was clear Stoltz was gaining ground.45 seconds back at mile two.30 seconds back at 2.5.18 seconds at the end of the first lap.

"By the time I caught him about 6k into the run I was really tired and I was panicking because I wasn't sure if I was getting enough carbohydrates," said Stoltz.

“The thing with the run was I started really fast and tried to catch him quickly but when I did pass him I couldn't put a lot of time on him so I was just hanging out there.I was really dead meat."

Still, Larsen couldn't answer and although he never let Stoltz get too far away, he wasn't able to reel him in either.

“Right away on the run today it was clear I had one speed," said Larsen."This was a different style run, all about changing gears and accelerating, uphill, downhill.a great run course, but not perfect for me today. I just ran flat out as hard as I could and he was better," said Larsen.

It all made for an instant XTERRA classic.

“Probably one of the hardest races I've ever done.not just because of the course but also because the competition was so tight and so tough," said Stoltz."I rode the bike course as if the summit was the finish line, and on the run I ran the first lap like it was the whole run."

Nicolas LeBrun, who recently placed fourth at the Duathlon World Championships, was steady again for third. Tyler Johnson repeated his fourth place finish of a year ago and Andrew Noble had his best race of the year to place fifth.

In the women's race Whitmore added yet another title to her collection this year, her eighth win in nine races (joining Saipan, Big Bear, Richmond, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Keystone, and Germany). Her only blemish of the season was a runner-up finish at XTERRA Canada behind Canadian Melanie McQuaid- who once again pushed her to the limit.

Echoing the men's race, Whitmore got an early lead on McQuaid out of the swim, gave it back, and then the two traded leads on the bike course throughout the race.

“She led the first climb, I led on the Flume Trail, she led on the way up to the top, and then she completely got away from me on the downhill," said McQuaid." Jamie is really good on this course on the descent and I'm not.I was making little mistakes all the way down and she was making no mistakes which meant that she kept making up time and that's where I think she won the race today."

“I didn't want to get behind anyone on that downhill so I just charged to get there first," said Whitmore."I feel really comfortable with the downhill and that was part of the plan."

Whitmore had the fastest bike split in 1:52:23, a minute and seven seconds faster than McQuaid. The former college cross country star then put together the second-best run split, behind none other than Jenny Tobin, to finish with a winning time of 3:02:43. McQuaid followed in 3:05:46.

The 38-year-young Shari Kain had another great race to finish third, Melissa Thomas landed on the podium for the seventh straight race in fourth, and current XTERRA World Champ Candy Angle finished fifth.

—Taken from Triathlete Magazine