2006 XTERRA South Africa

STOLTZ SHAKES UP XTERRA SOUTH AFRICA CHAMPIONSHIP

Two-time XTERRA World Champion Conrad Stoltz obliterated the rest of the field in the final leg of the Totalsports XTERRA SA Series, presented by Nissan and Due South, at the Grabouw Country Club on Saturday, 25 March.

Stoltz and series leader Lieuwe Boonstra had a blistering start in the open water swim, coming out of the water in 7th and 6th place respectively. Both athletes tackled the mountain biking leg with great enthusiasm and it wasn't long before Stoltz' skilful performance allowed him to make up for lost time, ending in an overall 2nd place in this discipline. Continuing his peak performance, Conrad had an amazing run and completed the event in 2hours40mins49sec with Kent Horner 2nd and Nico Pfitzenmaier of Germany in 3rd.

Boonstra, however, was extremely unlucky when for the first time during the Totalsports XTERRA SA Series he experienced severe leg cramps during the mountain biking discipline. He did, however, obtain an overall 4th place and still managed to take the title of XTERRA SA Champion.

According to Stoltz, he did not think that he would win the event as he hadn't raced in three months due to a wrist injury. "I was really concerned as I have just recovered from a broken wrist and haven't really been able to train as a result. XTERRA Grabouw is my favourite race, the water was just amazing and the forest is absolutely beautiful. I think I can do with a good rest and am considering taking a couple of months off," says Stoltz.

Although he took the XTERRA SA Champion title, Boonstra is disappointed with his performance in the final leg of the series. "I had such a good swim and was really looking forward to the mountain biking leg. Unfortunately due to severe cramps during this discipline I was forced to do damage control and had to race to win the series, not the event. I have, however, had an amazing time and the Totalsports XTERRA SA Series has been absolutely fantastic," reiterates Boonstra, who will take a well deserved break before the European Series which starts at the end of May.

Michelle Lombardi took the honours in the individual women's category. Although starting off with a relatively slow swim, which she completed in
25mins28sec, Lombardi easily made up for lost time in the mountain biking discipline, followed by a superb run. This resulted in a 3hour14minute16sec finish. "Today's race was tough, but even though I had to walk at times during the running leg, I am pleased with my overall performance. This is the second year that I took part in the XTERRA and it has just been awesome," says Lombardi. Sibylle Matter of Germany came in second and Riikka Kelja of Finland in third.

Triathlon newcomer Theresa Fourie obtained an overall 8th place in the individual ladies XTERRA. Fourie, a road athlete from Stellenbosch, took
part in her final road running event, the Totalsports Ladies Race in August 2005. "I have always wanted to compete in off-road events like the Totalsports XTERRA Triathlon. I use to train with tri-athletes and envied them when I watched them race or saw them on the television. The swim is my weakest leg at the moment and the technical mountain biking route was also a huge challenge for me. I really enjoyed the running leg as years and years of running has given me endurance and has supplied me with a base to work from," explains Fourie.

The XTERRA team event formed an exhilarating part of the excitement as teams of three battled it out over the three disciplines, namely a 1.5km swim, a 30km mountain bike or 11km run. Some of the country's top athletes took up this XTERRA challenge. In the women's event the Totalsports Ladies team obtained a 1st place followed by Creative Colour in 2nd and Rooibos FS in 3rd. In the Men's Team event Totalsports continued its superb performance when its men's team took 1st place followed by team Van Riebeeck Hotel in 2nd and Team Stevens in 3rd. 

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