Ruben Ruzafa of Spain and Michelle Flipo of France conquered the rain and mud to win hard-fought pro titles at XTERRA Switzerland.
Ruzafa, the 3-time XTERRA World Champion and former pro mountain biker, won his second straight XTERRA European Pro Tour event and his 21st XTERRA major victory (out of 26 starts) since winning XTERRA Worlds as a rookie in 2008. Flipo won her very first on the XTERRA World Tour.
Just a day after a bracing Friday rain storm soaked the grounds, Saturday began sunny and breezy before a second downpour turned the Valle de Joux hills into an ominous slickery mudfest.
Men
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Spain’s Roger Serrano. “It was a war. Those guys are crazy.”
Jens Roth led the swim. After a kilometer Ben Allen of Australia, Sam Osborne of New Zealand, and Brice Daubord of France were nose to tail in pursuit. By 3k Ruzafa, who was 90 seconds back after the swim, danced into 3rd and took the lead by 5k. “This condition is very good for me,” said Ruzafa. “I like technical and today with the mud and steep places, I was very fast on the downhills.”
On the bike leg, Sam Osborne took a wicked fall and never contended thereafter. Brice Daubord went around the New Zealander and surged into 2nd place. Kris Coddens charged hard and passed the rest of the field on the first lap and set after Ruzafa. After his race-best 1:36:29 mountain bike split - 6 minutes better than his nearest pursuers - the Spaniard led the field by 4 and a half minutes starting the run.
Ruzafa then cooled off with a 15th-best 48:25 trail run that surrendered 3:33 to Coddens but brought him to the line in 2:47:58 with a 1:20 margin of victory over Coddens (44:41 run) and 1:30 over Daubord (45:03 run).
“Nobody was going to catch Ruben today,” said Ben Allen at the awards. “All those years as a pro mountain biker just makes him unbelievable in conditions like this.”
Women
Michelle Flipo, a former ITU racer and Mexican XTERRA competitor now from France, dominated the swim with a 22:25 split that gave her a 32 seconds lead on Jacqui Slack of Great Britain. Slack, who is handy in the mud, caught Flipo at the 4k mark and started to pull away. “I really like XTERRA but my bike skills are not as good as I would like,” said Flipo. “I could keep up on the flats and uphills but lost time on the downhills.”
Slack navigated a women’s 3rd-best 2:01:35 mountain bike split that was 2 minutes better than Flipo but surrendered the lead to the brilliant 1:57:58 bike leg of Renata Bucher of Switzerland, a 33-time XTERRA winner. Fellow Swiss Ladina Buss trailed Slack in 3rd with Flipo 4th.
Flipo proceeded to Pac Man the field on her way to a women's-best 50:36 trail run that brought her to the finish in 3:18:40. This gave her a 2:36 margin of victory on Slack, who edged Myriam Guillot-Boisset, who charged past Buss and Bucher into 3rd thanks to a women’s 2nd-best 50:46 run that made up tons of ground after her 25:28 swim and 2:03:03 ride.
After the race, Flipo was covered in mud from head to toe, but her smile shone through after qualifying for the XTERRA World Championship. “I’m going to Maui,” she said.
XTERRA Switzerland – ETU Cross Triathlon Championship
Valle de Joux, Switzerland
June 25, 2016
Results
Men
1. Ruben Ruzafa (ESP) 2:47:58
2. Kris Coddens (BEL) 2:49:18
3. Brice Daubord (FRA) 2:49:28
4. Veit Hönle (GER) 2:49:36
5. Mattia De Paoli (ITA) 2:50:28
6. Bradley Weiss (RSA) 2:51:36
7. Sam Osborne (NZL) 2:52:49
Women
1. Michelle Flipo (FRA) 3:18:40
2. Jacqui Slack (GBR) 3:21:16
3. Myriam Guillot-Boisset (FRA) 3:21:20
4. Renata Bucher (SUI) 3:21:20
5. Ladina Buss (SUI) 3:22:21
6. Brigitta Poor (HUN) 3:25:37
7. Carina Wasle (AUT) 3:28:18
