Serrano, Poor win XTERRA Malta
/in Triathlon /Serrano, Poor win XTERRA Malta
Roger Serrano from Spain and Brigitta Poor from Hungary captured the elite titles at the XTERRA European Tour season-opener in Malta today.
It’s the third XTERRA Malta win in a row for Serrano and the fourth straight for Poor.
XTERRA European Tour director Nicolas Lebrun was on-site to take in all the action and brings us this report…
The women’s race unfolded like many other races we’ve had in the past with Nicole Walters leading the swim, Brigitta Poor taking a big lead during the bike and staying there, Carina Wasle posting a consistent race to finish in second, and Helena Karaskova coming from well behind in the swim to ultimately finish in third.
The race might have been different towards the front had Walters and Morgane Riou not suffered flat tires on the bike that removed both from contention for podium spots.
At the swim-to-bike transition Walters had about 45-seconds on Diane Luethi from Switzerland and Ine Couckuyt from Belgium. Poor was about one-minute behind with Wasle, while Riou Carina right behind. Riou was about 2:20 back and Karaskova was more than three-minutes behind the swim leaders.
As for the weather, it was a perfect day, and we were lucky not to have wind storms like we experienced yesterday.
After one loop of bike (15km) Poor was more than two-minutes ahead of Walters, with Wasle in third, Luethi in fourth, and Karaskova in fifth. At this point Riou already had a flat, and she explained “I dropped my chain twice and started losing control. I went too fast on the next downhill and paid dearly for this mistake. I was feeling strong today and when I will finally got my new bike, I was sure I would be able to fight more with those girls.”
For Walters, her flat came on the second loop. We will have to wait to see the true results of all her winter improvements, especially coming off a three-week training camp in Lanzaroth, until next week’s race at XTERRA Cyprus.
By the end of the bike Poor had a solid lead, but still she pushed all the way to the finish line and won here for the 4th time in a row with a time of 2:42:29, almost five minutes ahead of Wasle.
“I’m so happy to win again and start the season like this, but I got lucky that Nicole had a flat, as I think she improved and might be a strong competitor soon,” said Poor. “I still have work to do to reach my best level, but I think it’s already quite good for mid-April.”
Wasle, who was coming off a victory at XTERRA South Africa, was strong again today and finish second.
“I had my chain stuck three times between my cassette and spokes, but I felt very good, and even if I had a perfect race, Poor was way too strong today,” said Wasle. “After the bad luck I had here last year, I’m very happy with this second place.”
In 3rd was Karaskova, also quite happy with her position. “I knew my bike legs would not be there today after my long swim run last week in Croatia, so I’m very happy to be in the podium,” she said.
Riou was fourth and Maud Golsteyn finished 5th but was still positive. “The women’s elite field was strong today, and to finish top 5 is very good and I will take it for sure,” she said.
We will see Golsteyn in Greece in two weeks with her husband Lars who won his age group in Malta today. Walters was 6th, Luethi, a new elite, was 7th, Cecilia Jessen, coming from a cold winter was 8th and Couckuyt 9th.
Tentative Elite Women’s Results
| Pos | Name, NAT | Time | Points | Swim | Bike | Run |
| 1. | Brigitta Poor, HUN | 2:42:29 | 75 | 22:03 | 1:33:36 | 43:25:00 |
| 2. | Carina Wasle, AUT | 2:47:14 | 67 | 22:05 | 1:38:52 | 42:59:00 |
| 3. | Helena Karaskova, CZE | 2:49:01 | 61 | 25:14 | 1:36:01 | 44:14:00 |
| 4. | Morgane Riou, FRA | 2:54:20 | 56 | 24:26 | 1:43:24 | 43:16:00 |
| 5. | Maud Golsteyn, NED | 3:01:12 | 51 | 25:23 | 1:43:09 | 48:54:00 |
| 6. | Nicole Walters, GBR | 3:01:13 | 47 | 21:12 | 1:51:51 | 44:12:00 |
| 7. | Diane Luethi, SUI | 3:01:40 | 43 | 21:57 | 1:47:29 | 47:30:00 |
| 8. | Cecila Jessen, SWE | 3:05:46 | 39 | 25:14 | 1:48:41 | 47:22:00 |
| 9. | Ine Couckuyt, BEL | 3:06:50 | 36 | 21:56 | 1:52:26 | 48:47:00 |
For the men, the race was exciting from the start to the finish…
Max Chane from France exited the swim with Serrano and had the faster transition time to get on the bike with the lead. Chane was on fire today, maybe a little too much, at 22 years old he will need to work on finding a good pace. On the other hand, the veteran Serrano knows exactly what he is doing and won this race for the third time, even with a big crash on the bike costing him maybe more than a minute.
Chane came out first from T1 and just hammered the bike, with Serrano a few seconds behind.
“I felt strong and didn’t realize that I was, maybe, riding too fast,” said Chane. “When I knew my gap after one loop, I was quite surprised, but it was too late.”
Brice Daubord started the bike with Serrano but was not able to follow him, however, he quickly found two good bikers to ride with; Maximilan Sasserath from Germany and François Carloni from France. Veit Hoenle from Germany also started the bike up front but was not able to catch this train.
After one loop Chane was 1’45’’ in front of Serrano who had a bad crash on the first loop.
“I crashed on a very fast downhill on a paved road,” explained Serrano. “I hit something and lost control of my front wheel and went down quite badly and needed some time to recover and get back on my bike.”
About 35-seconds behind Serrano, François Carloni, Maximilian Sasserath and Daubord were all riding together.
About 35-seconds behind Serrano, François Carloni, Maximilian Sasserath and Daubord were all riding together.
“I was happy to be able to ride with Carloni this year,” said Sasserath. “I had a solid winter of training on the bike and it’s good when you can see the work payoff.”
Veit Hoenle was 25-seconds behind this group but losing time as he was less than 10-seconds from the leader out of the water. Doug Hall from the UK was behind Hoenle, then Tomas Kubeck from Czech and with him Victor Del Corral from Spain. Del Corral lost two minutes on the swim and another minute on the first bike loop, but knowing his results in long distance, and on the running part, we knew he was not done yet.
“I was not feeling that strong on the bike, but after so many years without racing XTERRA, it was finally not that bad,” said Del Corral. “Mountain biking is different, and I will get better and better.”
At the bike to run transition Chane was still in the lead with the exact same 1’45’’ gap to Serrano, followed by Carloni and Daubord. Sasserath lost this group at the end and was 15-seconds back.
At this point of the race, knowing all those athletes, I was thinking the best chance was for Daubord, and Chane on the podium with Serrano maybe, but this race was unpredictable! Del Corral came to transition in 6th position with 1’10’’ on the second place so almost three minutes behind Chane.
After 5km on the run, Chane was still leading, but was losing time and more important he was quite white and not looking good.
“I completely ran out of energy very quick on the run, and realized that for the power I put today, I didn’t eat enough,” said Chane.
Behind him in second place was Sasserath, who this time was my first choice for the win. But Serrano was right behind and the surprise for me was Carloni, as he is not as fast a runner as he can ride, but he was looking solid.
“I changed my run training a little bit this winter and I think I found a good balance with more sessions but shorter, so I felt very good today on the run part,” said Carloni.
With no more Daubord at this point, my prediction was really wrong, in fact Daubord told us that he had an injury and would not be 100% on the run. But I was an athlete, so I know we cannot trust them, as many times, they finish strong despite what they say. This time, however, it was true, and Daubord didn’t even finish because of that injury. So now Del Corral was back in 5th and closing the gap, and I started to think about him on the podium too.
Finally, knowing this race perfectly, Serrano was able to push at the right time, passing Chane who was in very bad shape.
“Even with my crash I was able to stay in the group and feeling like I was breathing more easily than others, so on the run I didn’t panic and waited my time,” said Serrano. “When I saw Chane just in front and slowing down a lot, I pushed harder, and saw that Sasserath was not able to follow, so I pushed very hard for about 1km and then tried to relax. Luckily, I turned back 100m before the finish and saw Del Corral just behind and had to sprint to the finish to take this third victory here.”
Del Corral had an amazing run to finish in second place. “I’m very happy to be on the podium after about five years without racing XTERRA, that makes me confident for the next races,” said Del Corral.
Sasserath got third, Carloni managed to stay in fourth and they were both happy with that today. Chane came in 5th and needed lots of food. He got past the disappointment of finishing 5th after leading 80% of the race and was happy to see his improvement and know what he must do for the future.
All in all, it was a very nice race to follow, with perfect conditions and happy people all around. After the race there was plenty of good food and beer to enjoy, after all, this is XTERRA.
Tentative Elite Men’s Results
| Pos | Name, NAT | Time | Points | Swim | Bike | Run |
| 1. | Roger Serrano, ESP | 2:22:22 | 75 | 19:13 | 1:22:39 | 37:40:00 |
| 2. | Victor Del Corral, ESP | 2:22:28 | 67 | 21:15 | 1:21:37 | 36:36:00 |
| 3. | Max Sasserath, GER | 2:23:20 | 61 | 19:55 | 1:22:15 | 38:09:00 |
| 4. | Francois Carloni, FRA | 2:24:05 | 56 | 20:32 | 1:21:20 | 39:20:00 |
| 5. | Maxim Chane, FRA | 2:25:20 | 51 | 19:14 | 1:21:10 | 42:21:00 |
| 6. | Geert Lauryssen, BEL | 2:25:25 | 47 | 21:54 | 1:20:55 | 39:27:00 |
| 7. | Veit Hoenle, GER | 2:27:05 | 43 | 19:18 | 1:24:33 | 40:15:00 |
| 8. | Doug Hall, GBR | 2:27:53 | 39 | 19:40 | 1:25:17 | 40:03:00 |
| 9. | Rui Dolores, POR | 2:28:05 | 36 | 21:11 | 1:25:47 | 38:03:00 |
| 10. | Peter Lehmann, GER | 2:29:52 | 33 | 20:33 | 1:27:15 | 39:03:00 |
| 11. | Jose Estrangeiro, POR | 2:30:54 | 30 | 20:30 | 1:27:25 | 39:46:00 |
| 12. | Tomas Kubek, SVK | 2:31:22 | 27 | 20:33 | 1:24:02 | 43:25:00 |
| 13. | Clement Briere, FRA | 2:34:23 | 25 | 21:46 | 1:29:00 | 40:29:00 |
| 14. | Hannes Wolpert, GER | 2:35:43 | 23 | 19:40 | 1:28:24 | 44:24:00 |
| 15. | Damien Guillemet, FRA | 2:38:18 | 22 | x | 1:29:50 | 39:52:00 |
http://www.xterraeurope.com/2018/04/serrano-poor-win-xterra-malta-2/
Serrano, Poor win XTERRA Malta
/in Triathlon /Serrano, Poor win XTERRA Malta
Roger Serrano from Spain and Brigitta Poor from Hungary captured the elite titles at the XTERRA European Tour season-opener in Malta today.
It’s the third XTERRA Malta win in a row for Serrano and the fourth straight for Poor.
XTERRA European Tour director Nicolas Lebrun was on-site to take in all the action and brings us this report…
The women’s race unfolded like many other races we’ve had in the past with Nicole Walters leading the swim, Brigitta Poor taking a big lead during the bike and staying there, Carina Wasle posting a consistent race to finish in second, and Helena Karaskova coming from well behind in the swim to ultimately finish in third.
The race might have been different towards the front had Walters and Morgane Riou not suffered flat tires on the bike that removed both from contention for podium spots.
At the swim-to-bike transition Walters had about 45-seconds on Diane Luethi from Switzerland and Ine Couckuyt from Belgium. Poor was about one-minute behind with Wasle, while Riou Carina right behind. Riou was about 2:20 back and Karaskova was more than three-minutes behind the swim leaders.
As for the weather, it was a perfect day, and we were lucky not to have wind storms like we experienced yesterday.
After one loop of bike (15km) Poor was more than two-minutes ahead of Walters, with Wasle in third, Luethi in fourth, and Karaskova in fifth. At this point Riou already had a flat, and she explained “I dropped my chain twice and started losing control. I went too fast on the next downhill and paid dearly for this mistake. I was feeling strong today and when I will finally got my new bike, I was sure I would be able to fight more with those girls.”
For Walters, her flat came on the second loop. We will have to wait to see the true results of all her winter improvements, especially coming off a three-week training camp in Lanzaroth, until next week’s race at XTERRA Cyprus.
By the end of the bike Poor had a solid lead, but still she pushed all the way to the finish line and won here for the 4th time in a row with a time of 2:42:29, almost five minutes ahead of Wasle.
“I’m so happy to win again and start the season like this, but I got lucky that Nicole had a flat, as I think she improved and might be a strong competitor soon,” said Poor. “I still have work to do to reach my best level, but I think it’s already quite good for mid-April.”
Wasle, who was coming off a victory at XTERRA South Africa, was strong again today and finish second.
“I had my chain stuck three times between my cassette and spokes, but I felt very good, and even if I had a perfect race, Poor was way too strong today,” said Wasle. “After the bad luck I had here last year, I’m very happy with this second place.”
In 3rd was Karaskova, also quite happy with her position. “I knew my bike legs would not be there today after my long swim run last week in Croatia, so I’m very happy to be in the podium,” she said.
Riou was fourth and Maud Golsteyn finished 5th but was still positive. “The women’s elite field was strong today, and to finish top 5 is very good and I will take it for sure,” she said.
We will see Golsteyn in Greece in two weeks with her husband Lars who won his age group in Malta today. Walters was 6th, Luethi, a new elite, was 7th, Cecilia Jessen, coming from a cold winter was 8th and Couckuyt 9th.
Tentative Elite Women’s Results
| Pos | Name, NAT | Time | Points | Swim | Bike | Run |
| 1. | Brigitta Poor, HUN | 2:42:29 | 75 | 22:03 | 1:33:36 | 43:25:00 |
| 2. | Carina Wasle, AUT | 2:47:14 | 67 | 22:05 | 1:38:52 | 42:59:00 |
| 3. | Helena Karaskova, CZE | 2:49:01 | 61 | 25:14 | 1:36:01 | 44:14:00 |
| 4. | Morgane Riou, FRA | 2:54:20 | 56 | 24:26 | 1:43:24 | 43:16:00 |
| 5. | Maud Golsteyn, NED | 3:01:12 | 51 | 25:23 | 1:43:09 | 48:54:00 |
| 6. | Nicole Walters, GBR | 3:01:13 | 47 | 21:12 | 1:51:51 | 44:12:00 |
| 7. | Diane Luethi, SUI | 3:01:40 | 43 | 21:57 | 1:47:29 | 47:30:00 |
| 8. | Cecila Jessen, SWE | 3:05:46 | 39 | 25:14 | 1:48:41 | 47:22:00 |
| 9. | Ine Couckuyt, BEL | 3:06:50 | 36 | 21:56 | 1:52:26 | 48:47:00 |
For the men, the race was exciting from the start to the finish…
Max Chane from France exited the swim with Serrano and had the faster transition time to get on the bike with the lead. Chane was on fire today, maybe a little too much, at 22 years old he will need to work on finding a good pace. On the other hand, the veteran Serrano knows exactly what he is doing and won this race for the third time, even with a big crash on the bike costing him maybe more than a minute.
Chane came out first from T1 and just hammered the bike, with Serrano a few seconds behind.
“I felt strong and didn’t realize that I was, maybe, riding too fast,” said Chane. “When I knew my gap after one loop, I was quite surprised, but it was too late.”
Brice Daubord started the bike with Serrano but was not able to follow him, however, he quickly found two good bikers to ride with; Maximilan Sasserath from Germany and François Carloni from France. Veit Hoenle from Germany also started the bike up front but was not able to catch this train.
After one loop Chane was 1’45’’ in front of Serrano who had a bad crash on the first loop.
“I crashed on a very fast downhill on a paved road,” explained Serrano. “I hit something and lost control of my front wheel and went down quite badly and needed some time to recover and get back on my bike.”
About 35-seconds behind Serrano, François Carloni, Maximilian Sasserath and Daubord were all riding together.
About 35-seconds behind Serrano, François Carloni, Maximilian Sasserath and Daubord were all riding together.
“I was happy to be able to ride with Carloni this year,” said Sasserath. “I had a solid winter of training on the bike and it’s good when you can see the work payoff.”
Veit Hoenle was 25-seconds behind this group but losing time as he was less than 10-seconds from the leader out of the water. Doug Hall from the UK was behind Hoenle, then Tomas Kubeck from Czech and with him Victor Del Corral from Spain. Del Corral lost two minutes on the swim and another minute on the first bike loop, but knowing his results in long distance, and on the running part, we knew he was not done yet.
“I was not feeling that strong on the bike, but after so many years without racing XTERRA, it was finally not that bad,” said Del Corral. “Mountain biking is different, and I will get better and better.”
At the bike to run transition Chane was still in the lead with the exact same 1’45’’ gap to Serrano, followed by Carloni and Daubord. Sasserath lost this group at the end and was 15-seconds back.
At this point of the race, knowing all those athletes, I was thinking the best chance was for Daubord, and Chane on the podium with Serrano maybe, but this race was unpredictable! Del Corral came to transition in 6th position with 1’10’’ on the second place so almost three minutes behind Chane.
After 5km on the run, Chane was still leading, but was losing time and more important he was quite white and not looking good.
“I completely ran out of energy very quick on the run, and realized that for the power I put today, I didn’t eat enough,” said Chane.
Behind him in second place was Sasserath, who this time was my first choice for the win. But Serrano was right behind and the surprise for me was Carloni, as he is not as fast a runner as he can ride, but he was looking solid.
“I changed my run training a little bit this winter and I think I found a good balance with more sessions but shorter, so I felt very good today on the run part,” said Carloni.
With no more Daubord at this point, my prediction was really wrong, in fact Daubord told us that he had an injury and would not be 100% on the run. But I was an athlete, so I know we cannot trust them, as many times, they finish strong despite what they say. This time, however, it was true, and Daubord didn’t even finish because of that injury. So now Del Corral was back in 5th and closing the gap, and I started to think about him on the podium too.
Finally, knowing this race perfectly, Serrano was able to push at the right time, passing Chane who was in very bad shape.
“Even with my crash I was able to stay in the group and feeling like I was breathing more easily than others, so on the run I didn’t panic and waited my time,” said Serrano. “When I saw Chane just in front and slowing down a lot, I pushed harder, and saw that Sasserath was not able to follow, so I pushed very hard for about 1km and then tried to relax. Luckily, I turned back 100m before the finish and saw Del Corral just behind and had to sprint to the finish to take this third victory here.”
Del Corral had an amazing run to finish in second place. “I’m very happy to be on the podium after about five years without racing XTERRA, that makes me confident for the next races,” said Del Corral.
Sasserath got third, Carloni managed to stay in fourth and they were both happy with that today. Chane came in 5th and needed lots of food. He got past the disappointment of finishing 5th after leading 80% of the race and was happy to see his improvement and know what he must do for the future.
All in all, it was a very nice race to follow, with perfect conditions and happy people all around. After the race there was plenty of good food and beer to enjoy, after all, this is XTERRA.
Tentative Elite Men’s Results
| Pos | Name, NAT | Time | Points | Swim | Bike | Run |
| 1. | Roger Serrano, ESP | 2:22:22 | 75 | 19:13 | 1:22:39 | 37:40:00 |
| 2. | Victor Del Corral, ESP | 2:22:28 | 67 | 21:15 | 1:21:37 | 36:36:00 |
| 3. | Max Sasserath, GER | 2:23:20 | 61 | 19:55 | 1:22:15 | 38:09:00 |
| 4. | Francois Carloni, FRA | 2:24:05 | 56 | 20:32 | 1:21:20 | 39:20:00 |
| 5. | Maxim Chane, FRA | 2:25:20 | 51 | 19:14 | 1:21:10 | 42:21:00 |
| 6. | Geert Lauryssen, BEL | 2:25:25 | 47 | 21:54 | 1:20:55 | 39:27:00 |
| 7. | Veit Hoenle, GER | 2:27:05 | 43 | 19:18 | 1:24:33 | 40:15:00 |
| 8. | Doug Hall, GBR | 2:27:53 | 39 | 19:40 | 1:25:17 | 40:03:00 |
| 9. | Rui Dolores, POR | 2:28:05 | 36 | 21:11 | 1:25:47 | 38:03:00 |
| 10. | Peter Lehmann, GER | 2:29:52 | 33 | 20:33 | 1:27:15 | 39:03:00 |
| 11. | Jose Estrangeiro, POR | 2:30:54 | 30 | 20:30 | 1:27:25 | 39:46:00 |
| 12. | Tomas Kubek, SVK | 2:31:22 | 27 | 20:33 | 1:24:02 | 43:25:00 |
| 13. | Clement Briere, FRA | 2:34:23 | 25 | 21:46 | 1:29:00 | 40:29:00 |
| 14. | Hannes Wolpert, GER | 2:35:43 | 23 | 19:40 | 1:28:24 | 44:24:00 |
| 15. | Damien Guillemet, FRA | 2:38:18 | 22 | x | 1:29:50 | 39:52:00 |
http://www.xterraeurope.com/2018/04/serrano-poor-win-xterra-cyprus/
Forissier, Walters win XTERRA Greece
/in Triathlon /
Arthur Forissier from France and Nicole Walters of Great Britain captured the sixth annual XTERRA Greece elite titles on a beautiful day in Athens on Sunday, April 29, 2018.
It’s the third career XTERRA World Tour win for Forissier, and the first for Walters.
XTERRA European Tour director Nicolas Lebrun was on hand to take in all the action and brings us this report…
After five years under the direction of Konstantinos Koumargialis, who is now serving as the marketing director for XTERRA Europe, XTERRA Greece entered a new era with Constantinos Mitropapas and his company Trimore now in charge. The event is in the same place and on the same course as last year and for their first edition, this new team did a fantastic job.
Vouliagmeni Bay is the perfect place for a triathlon with a calm sea, sandy beach, sun, and a big grassy area for the race village and finish line. As we are in the suburbs of Athens, which is a famous place to spend time at during the weekend, you can imagine it was quite crowded. While stressful for the organizers, it was a great opportunity to showcase our sport and the brand to many people.
Today’s race was the third in as many weeks in the Mediterranean, and Roger Serrano and Brigitta Poor won both of the first two in Malta and Cyprus. Even though we like them a lot, it was nice to see some surprises during the race and new faces on the top step of the podium.
For Walters, this is her first big XTERRA win. We knew she was improving a lot and focusing on XTERRA racing this year. She was on the podium in Cyprus last week, and today she got the result she wanted. As usual, she came out of the water first, saying “I felt very strong on the swim today, and it’s always good to start the race like that.”
Walters put nearly two minutes on Ine Couckuyt from Belgium and the reigning XTERRA European Champion, Brigitta Poor from Hungary. Carina Walse was 2’20” back in 4th, Sandra Mairhofer was 20″ back of Carina in 5th, and four-time XTERRA Greece champ Helena Karaskova lost 3’20”.
The bike here in Greece is two 15km loops. It can be tricky and slippery on the gravel roads, but it’s a very fast course where power is more important than technical skills. That was not to displease Walters, who comes from road triathlon, and was a silver medalist in the Rio Paralympics as a guide for Melissa Reid.
“When I started the bike, I didn’t feel amazing but tried to push as hard as I could on the fast and non-technical parts,” said Walters. “I was still afraid after my flat in Malta and didn’t want to experience that again, and I was expecting to see Brigitta somewhere, but I never did.”
After the first loop, Walters was still leading, and for me, even though I knew this race would suit her well, I was expecting to see Brigitta Poor in the front at this point.
“I had nothing in my legs today,” said Poor, who used lots of energy to beat Barbara Riveros in Cyprus last week. Her bike time was 20-seconds better than Walters but not fast enough to get back into the mix.
The fastest bike split of the day went to Helena Karaskova, who came on strong after the swim to fight for a podium spot.
Walters started the run course with about one-minute lead on Poor, and thought it would be close, but what she didn’t know is Poor was tired, and lost another 30-seconds in the first 1.5km of the run. At this point Poor was simply doing her best to finish the day and secure some good points to keep her lead in the Tour standings.
Ultimately, it was finally Walters day. “Even at the end on the last meter of the run I had a hard time believing I could take the tape, and get the win,” said Walters, who moved into the second spot in the tour standings with the win, just 23 points behind Poor.
Karaskova passed Poor on the run to finish in second and said “I’m very happy with this. I was third in Malta, second here, so it’s coming back. I had even started to think about retirement, but I still plan to play a good role in the front, so I’m very happy.”
Karaskova moves up to 5th in the standings after her runner-up showing today. The fastest run split went to Wasle, who was third.
“After my long trip to Danao for the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship in the Philippines (which she won) I’m happy with this 3rd place. I’m also glad that Nicole won, she deserves it after her flat in Malta.”
It’s been a very strong first part of the season for Wasle with two big wins at XTERRA South Africa and Danao, and two podium finishes on the XTERRA Euro Tour that have her sitting in 4th position in the standings. Morgane Riou 5th despite some back pain that she managed, also got some points and is now in 6th place on the tour, but still waiting for a perfect day. Maud Golsteyn took 6th position today and is 7th in the tour. Sandra Mairhofer did well with a 7th place result in her first race as an elite. Couckuyt was 8th in the race and is 8th in the tour, 9th was Elisabeth Gruber (not the same American elite named Liz Gruber) who also start racing elite with us today. Cecilia Jessen didn’t race at the level she wanted, but her 10th position put her in 3rd on the Euro tour after three races, and Jessie Roberts placed 11th today.
Tentative Elite Women’s Results
| PL | FIRST | LAST | TIME | PTS | SWIM | BIKE | RUN |
| 1 | Nicole | Walters | 02:37:52 | 75 | 00:19:41 | 01:32:05 | 00:44:17 |
| 2 | Helena | Erbenova | 02:39:35 | 67 | 00:24:04 | 01:30:59 | 00:42:40 |
| 3 | Carina | Wasle | 02:39:59 | 61 | 00:22:03 | 01:33:41 | 00:42:29 |
| 4 | Brigitta | Poor | 02:40:16 | 56 | 00:21:28 | 01:31:39 | 00:45:20 |
| 5 | Morgane | Riou | 02:45:56 | 51 | 00:23:11 | 01:37:20 | 00:43:44 |
| 6 | Maud | Golsteyn | 02:50:23 | 47 | 00:24:41 | 01:36:41 | 00:46:53 |
| 7 | Sandra | Mairhofer | 02:51:41 | 43 | 00:22:27 | 01:39:47 | 00:47:28 |
| 8 | Ine | Couckuyt | 02:52:04 | 39 | 00:21:17 | 01:42:21 | 00:46:50 |
| 9 | Elisabeth | Gruber | 02:52:30 | 36 | 00:23:20 | 01:42:53 | 00:43:50 |
| 10 | Cecilia | Jessen | 03:01:09 | 33 | 00:23:45 | 01:45:48 | 00:49:47 |
| 11 | Jessie | Roberts | 03:03:00 | 30 | – | 01:42:51 | 00:54:41 |
– – –
In the men’s chase the top three finishers were all doing their first race of the season. It seems you needed to be fresh to win in Greece today.
In the men’s chase the top three finishers were all doing their first race of the season. It seems you needed to be fresh to win in Greece today.
It started as usual with Serrano and Maxim Chané in the lead, but this time the chase group was not far away and with some very strong bikers. Serrano and Chane started the bike together like last week, with 1’40″on Forissier, Marcello Ugazio, Serrieres and François Carloni. At this point some favorites like Kris Coddens was 3′ back and Xavier Dafflon 5’20” back and you might think it would be over for those two, but they are strong bikers and runners that have won races starting the bike way bike like this.
After one loop Serrano and Chane were still leading but only by a few seconds on the chase pack, who had dropped Serrieres.
“I was pretty sick early this week, and even though I started to feel better, I was not 100% recovered so I didn’t want to burn myself, and wanted to manage my pace”
In this pack Ugazio was pushing hard, attacking all the time. “I’m not as good as the others on the technical parts so I wanted to gain some time on the easiest parts,” he said.
Carloni, well known for his mountain bike quality, was amazed to see how good these young were riding.
“I was all out to keep up with them, they were so fast and powerful,” exclaimed Carloni.
“I was all out to keep up with them, they were so fast and powerful,” exclaimed Carloni.
Lucky for him, he has lots of skill and was able to play his role on the group. Starting the second loop, seeing these guys coming back, Serrano attacked.
“I did the first loop saving some energy with Chane, waiting for the second loop to attack,” said Serrano.
The new situation on the second loop was Serrano pushing ahead, a chase pack of four with Ugazio, Forissier, Carloni and now Chané. Serrieres was in 6th, Coddens 7th and Dafflon in 8th pushing hard and on his way for the fastest bike split of the day.
Entering the bike-to-run transition Serrano was first but not with the lead he wanted. As the leader he had to make is way thru some crowds, sometime this is the problem to lead and be in a famous place.
Carloni was surprised to see him that close exiting transition.
Carloni was surprised to see him that close exiting transition.
“Even though I was upset about having to work my way through the crow, in the end I don’t think I would have been on the podium today. Those guys were fresh, and I was not 100% today,” said Serrano.
The chase pack entered T2 together with about 15″ to Serrano.
The chase pack entered T2 together with about 15″ to Serrano.
Forissier had the best transition, and we can say that with Ugazio only nine seconds behind him that Forissier won today because of his great transitions. He was 30-seconds faster combining the two transitions. Of course, it’s not that simple, but for sure it counts.
“I passed Roger very quick on the run, but then was passed myself by Marcello. Knowing him and what he did last year at ITU Cross Tri worlds in Canada, I was not confident. But then I saw him walking when it became steeper and I was able to run and that is where I made the difference. Even though he came back at the end and scared me the whole way, my legs were good and managed to stay in front of him.”
The young Italian Ugazio held on for second-place, saying “I’m very happy with this podium. I tried my best, maybe I put too much energy on the bike and my first loop on the run was not that good, but I came back strong at the end. Just not as strong as Arthur.”
The young Italian Ugazio held on for second-place, saying “I’m very happy with this podium. I tried my best, maybe I put too much energy on the bike and my first loop on the run was not that good, but I came back strong at the end. Just not as strong as Arthur.”
Many things happened during the run to shape the results. Serrano was not able to keep the podium as Serrieres, managing his race like he said, put the fastest run split and took 3rd place. Serrano was 4th and consolidated his lead on the Euro tour. Carloni had a good run just like he did in Malta to finish in 5th and is now 4th in the tour standings.
The first three finishers just started their season today, so are respectively 7, 10 and 12 in the point series. Coddens finished 6th, with this strong field and early in the season, it’s not that bad, even for sure an athlete like him start to win or be on the podium. Same scenario for Dafflon who crossed the line 7th, our best biker, who was still in the hospital just two weeks ago. Even he didn’t know, after Italy last year, that he can win a race. It’s still early in the season with 14 races to go and he will come stronger soon.
Young German Peter Lehmann was 8th on the day and is 8th in the tour. Austrian Dominik Wychera was 9th and 10th wen to the local hero, Greek Gregoris Souvatzoglou. Chane had no more energy today and finished 14th Elite, but those points were enough to put him in second position in the Euro tour, passing Victor Del corral who will not follow the points series. Doug Hall dropped down to 5th in the tour today. I think all his energy went to his wife Nicole for the win. Clement Briere, who did each of the first three races, is in 6th position on the tour after his 12th place finish today.
We will now have a three week break on the XTERRA Euro Tour until we head to XTERRA Lake Garda in Italy on May 27.
Tentative Elite Men’s Results
| PL | FIRST | LAST | TIME | PTS | SWIM | BIKE | RUN |
| 1 | Arthur | Forissier | 02:15:51 | 75 | 00:19:43 | 01:18:38 | 00:36:30 |
| 2 | Marcello | Ugazio | 02:15:59 | 67 | 00:19:27 | 01:18:30 | 00:36:30 |
| 3 | Arthur | Serrieres | 02:17:46 | 61 | 00:19:38 | 01:20:24 | 00:36:14 |
| 4 | Roger | Serrano | 02:18:22 | 56 | 00:18:06 | 01:19:42 | 00:39:10 |
| 5 | Francois | Carloni | 02:18:45 | 51 | 00:19:36 | 01:18:25 | 00:39:13 |
| 6 | Kris | Coddens | 02:20:20 | 47 | 00:21:04 | 01:19:38 | 00:37:59 |
| 7 | Xavier | Dafflon | 02:20:56 | 43 | 00:23:25 | 01:16:44 | 00:38:36 |
| 8 | Peter | Lehmann | 02:22:31 | 39 | 00:19:35 | 01:22:52 | 00:38:44 |
| 9 | Dominik | Wychera | 02:23:48 | 36 | 00:21:51 | 01:20:30 | 00:40:02 |
| 10 | Grigoris | Souvatzoglou | 02:23:52 | 33 | 00:18:12 | 01:22:50 | 00:41:06 |
| 11 | Tim | Van Daele | 02:25:17 | 30 | 00:21:23 | 01:21:17 | 00:41:19 |
| 12 | Clement | Briere | 02:25:27 | 27 | 00:20:08 | 01:24:15 | 00:39:17 |
| 13 | Thomas | Kerner | 02:25:58 | 25 | 00:21:59 | 01:21:49 | 00:40:11 |
| 14 | Maxim | Chane | 02:26:30 | 23 | 00:18:07 | 01:20:15 | 00:46:49 |
| 15 | Richard | Costa Puigpelat | 02:26:38 | 21 | 00:19:52 | 01:23:56 | 00:41:17 |
http://www.xterraeurope.com/2018/04/forissier-walters-win-xterra-greece/
| Elite Men Euro Tour Point Standings | |||||
| Place | Name, Country | Total | Malta | Cyprus | Greece |
| 1 | Roger Serrano, ESP | 206 | 75 | 75 | 56 |
| 2 | Maxim Chane, FRA | 141 | 51 | 67 | 23 |
| 3 | Victor Del Corral Morales, ESP | 128 | 67 | 61 | DNS |
| 4 | Francois Carloni, FRA | 107 | 56 | DNS | 51 |
| 5 | Doug Hall, GBR | 90 | 39 | 51 | DNP |
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