The Greatest Off-Road Triathlon in the World is 20 Days Away, and on October 23, 2016 a sold-out field featuring more than 800 of the best professional and amateur off-roaders from 46 countries will gather on the sand at D.T. Fleming Beach in Kapalua to chase the sports ultimate title – the XTERRA World Championship.
As the culmination of 30 qualifying events held around the globe “Worlds” is one massive celebration for those who perpetuate the healthy, active, and adventurous Live More lifestyle.
It’s a 1.5km swim, 32km mountain bike, and 10.5km trail run, and while the distances stay basically the same year-after-year, the conditions never are. That’s the beauty of off-road racing, the perpetually evolving challenge of racing against the unknown.
Will northwest swells bring shore-pounding waves? Will recent rains make the bike course a muddy mess or two weeks of dry days turn it into a dusty bowl? Will the Maui heat make it a suffer-fest for all?
We’ll find out four Sunday’s from now but one thing is certain, in XTERRA it’s you vs. Mother Nature … and she is unstoppable, unbeatable, and unbreakable. Hype Video
More than 70 of the fastest XTERRA racers on earth are confirmed for the $100,000 showdown in Maui.
For the men the hype starts with Josiah Middaugh, the reigning XTERRA World Champion. This year he won five majors and the XTERRA Pan Am Tour title in a photo-finish thriller against Kiwi Braden Currie.
Despite his recent success, the 16-year veteran of the sport says he still has more to prove.
“XTERRA Worlds in Maui last year was without a doubt the highlight of my career … but hopefully not the pinnacle. I still have a few things left to prove in this sport and since I was able to “crack the code” once, it gives me confidence that I can do it again.”
To repeat, Middaugh will have to be amazing because the list of contenders is long and strong. It includes the aformentioned Braden Currie, everyone in the top six from last year, champions from the XTERRA European Tour (Ruben Ruzafa) and Asia-Pacific Tour (Ben Allen), long-distance stars Ben Hoffman and Sebastian Kienle, current and former Olympians including Courtney Atkinson, Leonardo Chacon, Francisco Serrano, and Michi Weiss, off-road specialists Brad Weiss, Roger Serrano, Rom Akerson, and Karsten Madsen, and a wealth of young guns (25-or under) led by Mauricio Mendez, Felipe Barraza, Kieran McPherson, and Sam Long. Together this group accounted for 25 of the 30 major championship titles on the World Tour this year.
“Looking at the start list always gets me excited, but I know after so many of these races not to focus too much energy on any one person,” said Middaugh. “XTERRA is a race against the course and your race resume doesn’t help you here. The race will show who is best on this course on that one day and that’s all I need to worry about. I always tell myself that I don’t need to do something extraordinary here, rather put in the performance that I am trained for and capable of. If I do that, someone else will have to do something extraordinary to beat me.”
2016 XTERRA Worlds Elite Men
Tentative as of 9.30.16
Sorted by bib #, based on finishing position in last year’s WC then alpha
Bib (2015 Pos) – Name (NAT)
1 (1) – Josiah Middaugh (USA)
2 (2) – Braden Currie (NZL)
3 (3) – Ruben Ruzafa (ESP)
4 (4) – Mauricio Mendez (MEX)
5 (5) – Courtney Atkinson (AUS)
6 (6) – Francisco Serrano (MEX)
7 (8) – Rom Akerson (CRC)
8 (10) – Ben Hoffman (USA)
9 (14) – Ben Allen (AUS)
10 (19) – Will Ross (USA)
11 (20) – Branden Rakita (USA)
12 (26) – Noah Wright (USA)
14 (28) – Cameron Paul (NZL)
15 – Rodrigo Acevedo (COL)
16 – Victor Arenas (COL)
17 – Felipe Barraza (CHI)
18 – Anders Bregnhoj (DEN)
19 – Julien Buffe (FRA)
20 – Francois Carloni (FRA)
21 – Leonardo Chacon (CRC)
22 – Kaon Cho (KOR)
23 – Mattia De Paoli (ITA)
24 – JP Donovan (USA)
25 – Chris Ganter (USA)
26 – Jason Hsieh (HKG)
27 – Alex Hunt (AUS)
28 – Ryan Ignatz (USA)
29 – Sebastian Kienle (GER)
30 – Ian King (USA)
31 – Sam Long (USA)
32 – Brian MacIlvain (USA)
33 – Karsten Madsen (CAN)
34 – Diogo Malagon (BRA)
35 – Patrick McKeon (USA)
36 – Kieran McPherson (NZL)
37 – Lucas Mendez (ARG)
38 – Joe Miller (PHI)
39 – Felipe Moletta (BRA)
40 – Maximiliano Morales (ARG)
41 – Sebastian Norberg (SWE)
42 – Takahiro Ogasawara (JPN)
43 – Sam Osborne (NZL)
44 – Anthony Pannier (FRA)
45 – Alex Roberts (NZL)
46 – Roger Serrano (ESP)
47 – Karl Shaw (GBR)
48 – Juscelino Vasconcelos (BRA)
49 – Brad Weiss (RSA)
50 – Michi Weiss (AUT)
FLORA FOR A THREE-PEAT?
When we talk about the best in the world, we’re not kidding, just look at the women’s field.
Flora Duffy, the reigning and two-time XTERRA World Champion, just beat Olympic gold-medalist Gwen Jorgensen on her way to capturing the ITU World Triathlon Series Championship.
Barbara Riveros, a two-time runner-up in Maui, finished 5th at the Rio Olympics ahead of Duffy. And Lesley Paterson, a two-time World Champ herself, could just be the grittiest triathlete on the planet.
“Those three women have taken the elite women’s field to a whole new level these past few years,” said XTERRA World Tour managing director Dave Nicholas. “They’re not just fast, they’re fearless and they’re fighters.”
Seven of the top eight women from last year’s XTERRA World Championship are back in Maui, excluding only Emma Garrard (3rd last year) who is pregnant with her second child.
Myriam Guillot-Boisset, an adventure racing world champ, was fourth last year in Maui and took home two majors this year. Lizzie Orchard, who was 5th last year, won three races and the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour title this year.
Helena Erbenova won five races on the XTERRA European Tour this season and Michelle Flipo won the big ones at XTERRA Switzerland and the XTERRA European Championship in Germany.
Suzie Snyder dominated the XTERRA Pan America Tour with five wins, Carina Wasle added the XTERRA La Reunion title to her trophy shelf, Jacqui Slack won in Malaysia, and Julie Baker pulled out a win in her rookie pro season at XTERRA Beaver Creek.
Just like in the men’s field, this group accounted for 25 of the 30 major championship titles on the World Tour this year.
2016 XTERRA Worlds Elite Women
Tentative as of 9.30.16
Sorted by bib #, based on finishing position in last year’s WC then alpha
Bib (2015 Pos) – Name (NAT)
61 (1) – Flora Duffy (BER)
62 (2) – Lesley Paterson (GBR)
63 (4) – Myriam Guillot-Boisset (FRA)
64 (5) – Lizzie Orchard (NZL)
65 (6) – Carina Wasle (AUT)
66 (7) – Helena Erbenova (CZE)
67 (8) – Jacqui Slack (GBR)
68 (12) – Maia Ignatz (USA)
69 (13) – Kara LaPoint (USA)
70 – Julie Baker (USA)
71 – Mieko Carey (JPN)
72 – Katharine Carter (CAN)
73 – Caroline Colonna (USA)
74 – Michelle Flipo (MEX)
75 – Melania Giraldi (BRA)
76 – Sarah Graves (USA)
77 – Isabella Ribeiro (BRA)
78 – Morgane Riou (FRA)
79 – Barbara Riveros (CHI)
80 – Suzie Snyder (USA)
81 – Jennifer Todd (USA)
82 – Joanna Brown (CAN)
XTERRA will cover the elite race with live streaming video online, on Facebook, and on twitter starting at 9 a.m. on October 23, 2016.
About TEAM Unlimited/XTERRA: TEAM Unlimited LLC, founded in 1988, is the Hawaii-based television, events, and marketing company that brought off-road triathlon and trail running to the world under the brand name XTERRA. From a one-off race held on the most remote island chain in the world XTERRA evolved into an endurance sports lifestyle with worldwide appeal. Over the past 20 years XTERRA transcended its status as ‘just a race’ to become a bona-fide way of life for thousands of intrepid athletes as well as an emerging brand in the outdoor industry. In 2016 XTERRA will offer more than 200 off-road triathlons and trail running events in 30+ countries worldwide and produce 10 adventure television shows for international distribution. Learn more at xterraplanet.com and xterracontent.com.
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