Mendez, Poor win XTERRA Denmark
September 4, 2016/in All /by XTERRA
Ruzafa, Poor win XTERRA European Tour
Mons Klint, Denmark – Mauricio Mendez from Mexico and Brigitta Poor from Hungary captured the XTERRA European Tour finale at XTERRA Denmark in Mons Klint this afternoon.It’s the third win in five weeks for Mendez, who is just 20-years-old, and the second win of the season for Poor who also secured her first XTERRA European Tour title with the victory.
A cold and wet day “aka Viking weather” didn’t dampen the spirits for the several hundred XTERRA Warriors who took part in the days’ event, held at one of the most stunning locations in Europe with its signature 497-steps down to the swim, up after the swim, and back up again at the end of the run.“It was a really hard race today for the athletes,” said XTERRA European Tour technical director Nicolas Lebrun. “It was a tough swim with waves, and currents, then those crazy stairs and it was wet, muddy, and a lot of people fell it because it was so slippery all over.”
In the men’s race Mendez and Sam Osborne were the leaders out of the water, followed closely by Roger Serrano and Maxim Chane. Once on the bike, however, Francois Carloni and Serrano took over with the best bike splits and took the lead heading into the run together.“Carloni told me that he was able to get back in the race on the bike not because he was pushing hard, but with a lot of skills,” said Lebrun. “He said just to stay on his bike was faster than most people going hard in these muddy conditions.”
Osborne, who could have won the tour with a win today in Denmark, gave everything on the run and passed Carloni and Serrano, but was then caught and passed by Mendez, who had the fastest run of the day and took the tape in 2:56:13, less than one-minute ahead of Osborne.
Mendez
“It was a really exciting race to watch, to see Sam leading, then Roger, then Francois, and finally Mauricio,” said Lebrun.
For Mendez, the win marked the end of a six-week European race-cation.
“This trip was really successful, a fun mix of travel and holiday. I think I have to come back because I’ve never had such a great experience, and met so many good people,” said Mendez.“It was a really extreme adventure today,” he added. “This was my first time in these kinds of conditions and it was hard to deal with. I tried to stay calm and enjoy the experience, and when I started three-minutes down on the run I told myself to just enjoy it because it’s the last race of the trip. Then, when I saw the three guys at the 8K mark I pushed hard and it worked.”
In the women’s race Poor dominated from start-to-finish, posting the fastest swim-bike-and-run times of the day for a winning time of 3:30:39. Carina Wasle finished in 2nd nearly seven-minutes back and Renata Bucher placed third.“Brigitta took all the excitement out of the women’s race early on,” said Lebrun. “She led the swim, and after one loop on the bike she had a four-minute lead and it was done! After that only a mechanical could stop her, but she managed it and did the job perfectly.”
Wasle got kicked in the swim, lost some time, but was able to manage it “even with blue lips and maybe a broken tooth,” said Lebrun. “She was not at her best, but consistent, and Renata was not 100% for sure. She said the season started to be really long, and she did not have enough energy to fight hard in these conditions.”
Now it’s time for the best in Europe to get ready for Maui, and the ultimate showdown at the XTERRA World Championship on October 23.
Find pictures, videos, and more stories from XTERRA Denmark at:
https://www.facebook.com/xterranordic / https://www.facebook.com/xterraeurope
1 7 Mauricio Mendez (M) PRO Muscle Milk On Running VIANSI/. Mexico MEX 2:56:13 23:50 0:46 1:44:19 0:49 46:29
2 6 Sam Osborne (M) PRO BDO, planet bike, Scott sports New Zealand NZL 2:57:09 23:58 0:33 1:43:24 0:44 48:30
3 1 Roger Serrano (M) PRO Myprotein / Orca / Mobel Spanien ESP 2:57:50 24:18 0:39 1:40:28 0:50 51:35
http://www.xterraplanet.com/2016/09/mendez-poor-win-xterra-denmark/
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