Nico Lebrun of France and Shonny Vanlandingham won the XTERRA Mountain Championship titles Saturday on a hot blue skies day at Beaver Creek Resort in Avon Colorado.
Lebrun and Vanlandingham both won their races on the rugged, challenging mountain bike sections that presented more than 3,000 feet of climbing in 15.5 miles.
It was the second straight XTERRA Mountain Championship win for Lebrun, who won XTERRA France six days before, and Vanlandingham’s third in a row.
Lebrun made up two minutes he lost on the mile swim in Lake Nottingham, passing Seth Wealing, Josiah Middaugh and fastest swimmer Branden Rakita (17:57) at Mile 9 before putting a small lead of about 25 seconds on his chasers and held on for a 23-second margin of victory over Seth Wealing with a finish in 2:13:51.
“This race is so hard because of the altitude,” said Lebrun, the 2005 XTERRA World Champion. “You can’t breathe and you feel terrible so you just have to judge how you are doing by where you are against the others. So when I passed Josiah, and then I saw Dan and Seth I thought I must be doing OK.”
Lebrun was aided in his push to the front by a super-light 19-pound bike, then held on for dear life on the long downhills coming back to the transition.
"I pushed on the uphills because my bike is great for climbing but I was cautious on the downhills because the lighter tires are slippery, and I didn’t want to risk a crash,” Lebrun told XTERRA media.
When he heard that Wealing and Middaugh were hot on his heels starting the run, Lebrun made a go-for-broke decision. “When I heard they were all right behind me I thought ‘Oh no’ because Seth and Josiah are really fast runners,” said Lebrun. “So I went as hard as I could on the first climb (600 feet) so I could be out of sight and hopefully take away some of their motivation. So I really suffered on the last climb (also 600 feet) but luckily was able to hold on,” said Lebrun.
Wealing, despite going off course on the swim and losing a minute, had the day’s fastest run and lost by just 23 seconds.
Conrad Stoltz, who posted a four wins in four XTERRA national events this year, passed up Beaver Creek because he could not add to his his 400 point total as the series counts each performer's four best events going into the XTERRA USA Championship in Ogden, Utah September 25.
Vanlandingham, who proudly put the number “41” on her calf to indicate her 41-years of age, emerged from the 68-degree waters of Lake Nottingham more than two minutes back of swim leader Suzie Snyder, then crushed the field on the bike.
Vanlandingham, who won 2010 XTERRA national events in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada and Pelham, Alabama, then posted a race-best 1:22:51 bike split which was 5:27 better than the next best bike posted by third overall finisher Jenny Smith of Gunnison, Colorado.
“I love high mountain riding,” said Vanlandingham to XTERRA media after her tour de force riding between 7,500 and 9,500 feet altitude. “I’ve spent the last 12 years in Durango, and the last four weeks riding up in the mountains so I just felt really good.”
Sara Tarkington, who holds a full time job as a social worker in Boulder, ran hard to nail down 2nd place, her best-ever XTERRA national finish, 7:36 behind Vanlandingham’s 2:31:58 winning time.
Tarkington’s 2:42:33 finish held off Emma Garrard by 2:59 for 3rd place, with Snyder taking 5th, 30 seconds back of Garrard.
XTERRA Mountain Championship
Beaver Creek Resort
Avon, Colorado
July 17, 2010
S 1 mi./ MTB 15.5 mi./ R 6.2 mi.
Elite Results
Men
1. Nico Lebrun (FRA) 2:13:51
2. Seth Wealing (USA) 2:14:14
3. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:16:34
4. Branden Rakita (USA) 2:17:08
5. Cody Waite (USA) 2:21:09
6. Justin Hurd (USA) 2:22:08
7. Will Kelsay (USA) 2:22:22
8. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:23:40
9. Brad Zoller (USA) 2:24:11
10. Jimmy Archer (USA) 2:25:53
Women
1. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 2:31:58
2. Sara Tarkington (USA) 2:39:34
3. Jenny Smith (USA) 2:42:33
4. Emma Garrard (USA) 2:45:32
5. Suzie Snyder (USA) 2:46:02
6. Tracy Thelen (USA) 2:53:00
7. Rebecca Rae (NZL) 2:54:20
8. Katie Ellis (USA) 2:55:35
9. Ingrid Rolles (USA) 3:02:16
10. Brandyn Roark Gray (USA) 3:11:33
2010 XTERRA Pro Series Standings
Men
1. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 400 – 4 wins
2. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 352
3. Seth Wealing (USA) 315
4. Craig Evans (USA) 284
5. Cody Waite (USA) 264
6. Nico Lebrun (FRA) 251 – 1 win
7. Branden Rakita (USA) 241
8. Will Kelsay (USA) 232
9. Trevor Glavin (USA) 192
10. Ryan DeCook (USA) 163
Women
1. Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) 390 – 3 wins
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 344
3. Renata Bucher (SUI) 338 – 2 wins
4. Emma Garrard (USA) 294
5. Christine Jeffrey (CAN) 276
6. Tracy Thelen (USA) 218
7. Lesley Paterson (GBR) 164
8. Fabiola Corona (MEX) 168
9. Rosemarie Gerspacher (CAN) 69
10. Shae Rainer (USA) 63
