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|  Stoltz smokes at XTERRA world champs October 28, 2002 Courtesy: event press release
The competition was fierce but Conrad Stoltz (29, Stellenbosch,
South Africa) stole the show once again and defended his crown
at the seventh annual Nissan Xterra World Championship at the
Outrigger Wailea Resort in Maui, Hawaii on October 27. Stoltz, the winner of the last seven XTERRA races he's entered,
aggressively attacked the dangerous bike portion of the race to
pull off a one-minute victory over Eneko Llanos of Spain.
Stoltz crossed the line in 2:22:55, just more than a minute
ahead of Llanos (2:23:57) who posted the fastest run split of
the day. "Things went wrong today on the bike climb - my gears were jumpy
and I was losing pressure in my tire," said the two-time Nissan
Xterra World Champion. "I knew I had to have some time going
into the run so I let it all out on the downhill. I was going
frighteningly fast and ended up in the bushes a few times but it
was still by far the best downhill I've ever done on the
mountain bike." The bike course in Maui climbs 2,300 feet up the slopes of
Haleakala (the worlds largest dormant Volcano) and the final
descent, labeled "The Plunge", drops 1,420 feet to the bike-to-
run transition area in less than one mile. Hot on his tails was Llanos, who was trading leads with Stoltz
through the mid-way point of the bike. Last year in Maui Llanos
watched a mechanical take away a possible win. "Today I took my revenge," said Llanos. "Last year I felt so
good before I broke my chain and today I had no problems and it
was perfect. I'm very happy with my race. Conrad put a lot of
time on me in the downhill and that is where I lost the race." Stoltz bike split was two-minutes faster than anyone else in the
talent-laden pro field. Mix that with the fifth-best swim time
and the third strongest run and you have his season-long secret
to success. "XTERRA is my passion and my focus. It's been my goal this year
and I've trained hard for these races," said Stoltz, who was
first off the bike at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "I'm looking
forward to many more years of XTERRA because it is a sport that
is expanding and the competition gets better every race. It's a
great fit for me." Nicolas LeBrun of France had an error-free race to finish third
and Canada's Mike Vine was right behind him in fourth.
Frenchmen Olivier Marceau led in the early stages of the bike
course before a flat set him back and he was never able to catch-
up to the front again. In the women's race Candy Angle surprised everyone but herself
and her partner and coach, pro male Andrew Noble, by winning the
biggest race of the year. The 33-year-old from Weymouth,
Massachusetts (originally from Pennsylvania) came out of the
water just seconds behind Australia's Raeleigh Tennant and put
together a cautious and steady bike with the second fastest-run
for her first XTERRA World Championship. Despite the fact that she showed signs of ever-improving success
with XTERRA (won the XTERRA Czech Republic race in June and
placed third at the Nissan Xterra USA Championship last month)
not many counted on such a brilliant performance. "I was just really in the zone today," said Angle. "I felt
good, I was comfortable, I've adjusted quite a few things with
the help of Andrew, and am really just hitting my peak now." The women's race was one of the tightest and most exhilarating
in recent memory with XTERRA Pro Points Champion Jamie Whitmore
(26, Elk Grove, California) and Angle trading leads on the run
until the final stages of the race. Angle took advantage of a
loose rocky beach section titled "Salt and Pepper Beach" to
sneak past Whitmore for good and sprint to the finish line. Shari Kain, the 1999 XTERRA World Champion, hammered out her
best race of the year to finish in third and was followed by
Raeleigh Tennant (who had her best-ever Maui race) and Melissa
Thomas - who posted the fastest bike split of the day.
TOP 15 PRO MEN Pl Name Age Hometown Time Purse 1 Conrad Stoltz 29 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:22:55 $20,000 2 Eneko Llanos 26 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain 2:23:57 $10,000 3 Nicolas LeBrun 28 Villeneuve-Loubet, France 2:27:37 $7,000 4 Mike Vine 29 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:33:18 $4,000 5 Olivier Marceau 29 Mougins, France 2:34:43 $2,500 6 Justin Thomas 27 Fairfax, Virginia 2:35:09 $1,750 7 Allan Mansson 26 Copenhagen, Denmark 2:35:34 $1,200 8 Jason Chalker 27 Sydney, Australia 2:36:46 $1,000 9 Pat Brown 31 Boulder, Colorado 2:37:21 $800 10 Geoff Kabush 25 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:39:08 $700 11 Jimmy Archer 29 Boulder, Colorado 2:39:22 $600 12 Andrew Noble 36 Gold Coast, Australia 2:39:33 $500 13 Marc Pschebizin 29 Bernhastel-Kuen, Germany 2:41:16 $400 14 Kerry Classen 29 Bend, Oregon 2:41:35 $300 15 Dave Harrison 38 Sun Valley, Idaho 2:41:48 $300
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