New DUESOUTH XTERRA South Africa Champion Crowned

Grabouw Country Club was a tense battleground on Saturday, 19 April 2008, when a strong field of local and international XTERRA athletes gathered to contest the adrenaline pumping 2007/2008 DUESOUTH XTERRA South African finals presented by Nissan.

Pre-race expectations predicted a tough challenge and action-packed competition.  At just over 900 entries, this year saw the biggest number of competitors in the event's history and both the individual men's and ladies division of the event caused a huge upset.  Dan Hugo and Eszter Erdelyi (Hungary) successfully stole the coveted DUESOUTH XTERRA South African Champion title from three-times World Champion Conrad Stoltz and defending ladies champion Michelle Lombardi respectively.

Dan Hugo, Felix Schumann from Germany and Conrad Stoltz were under the top five men to exit the water.  It was during the mountain-bike leg, however, that Hugo and Stoltz made a break from Schumann, who comes from a road-bike background and is not yet comfortable with technical mountain-bike routes.  Stoltz unfortunately punctured the front tire of his mountain-bike, putting Hugo in the lead.  Hugo made a blistering transition into the running leg, knowing that this is where Schumann's strength was. He, however, managed to maintain his lead crossing the finish line in 02hours 05minutes 54seconds.

According to Hugo, he has dreamt about winning the South African DUESOUTH XTERRA Champion title for a long time.  "I've been working extremely hard on each discipline and to see everything come together on the day was just amazing.  I had a good swim, but coming out the water I knew I had to get on Conrad's wheel, because if he manages to get away there's no catching him.  After his puncture, I just put down the hammer, as I was not going to let an international athlete win our South African title.  I had a good run and the most amazing feeling was crossing the finish line with the South African flag in my hands.  In my eyes, this is my first real title," says Hugo.  Felix Schumann came in second with a time of 02hours 07minutes 06seconds, while Nico Pfitzenmaier (Germany) finished third with a time of 02hours 10minutes 32seconds.

Eszter Erdelyi (Hungary) continued to impress and had an amazing race.  Dominating all three disciplines on the day, she crossed the finish line in 02hours 28minutes 23seconds.  According to Erdelyi, she had set her eye on the South African DUESOUTH XTERRA Champion title last year already.  "I had such an awesome race and am really happy with my performance. The swim was amazing and on entering the transition area, I knew that I had to ride hard as Michelle Lombardi would be chasing and I really don't like being chased.  I've been working really hard on my mountain-biking and have competed in more events, so I've gotten stronger in this discipline and definitely more confident.  The first and last part of the run was really difficult and felt like we were climbing forever, but it was beautiful.  The event was just perfect and I am really happy with my title," says Erdelyi.  Jeannie Bomford came in second with a time of 02hours32minutes32seconds, while Michelle Lombardi finished third with a time of 02hours35minutes01seconds.

First place in the DUESOUTH XTERRA men's team category went to team Los Calibos, while team Jeep came first in the women's team category.  The top three places in the individual men's category of the DUESOUTH XTERRA LITE went to Richard Murray, Chad Gordon and Steve Attwell, while the first three places in the individual women's category went to

Mandy Nel, Tina Brenzel and Estelle van Schalkwyk.  Team Flaming came first in the team category of the DUESOUTH XTERRA LITE.

Saturday evening saw the DUESOUTH XTERRA Night of the Champions awards dinner hosted by NH The Lord Charles Hotel.  The following athletes received awards on the evening for their amazing performances during the year:  /Jean-Paul van der Linde received the /DUESOUTH XTERRA male warrior award, while Mandy Nel received the DUESOUTH XTERRA female warrior award, Michelle Lombardi received the DUESOUTH XTERRA individual female award and Conrad Stoltz received the DUESOUTH XTERRA individual men's award.

The DUESOUTH XTERRA was open to individual athletes or teams of three and consisted of a 1.5km swim, 25km mountain bike and 10km trail run discipline.  Newcomers to the sport could take on the XTERRA LITE, which consisted of a 400m swim, 12km mountain bike and 5km trail run and also catered for individual athletes as well as teams of three.

Athletes will be able to enjoy a well-deserved rest before the first leg of the 2008/2009 DUESOUTH XTERRA presented by Nissan kicks off on Thursday, 10 July 2008 at the magnificent PEZULA Private Estate in Knysna.  This event forms part of the widely anticipated annual Knysna Oyster Festival and is expected to be a real crowd pleaser.

For race rules or event information visit www.duesouth.co.za or contact Max Cluer Sports Marketing on (033) 345-7075 or e-mail bex@maxcluer.com.

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