Press and Media Center

XTERRA Czech This Saturday, France (Auron) Canceled

XTERRA CZECH THIS SATURDAY

The XTERRA Czech Championship - the second race in the XTERRA European Tour - is Saturday amidst the historic castles of Hluboka nad Vltavou.  All eyes will be on Franky Batelier, who defeated the reigning XTERRA World Champ Ruben Ruzafa at XTERRA Italy last month, along with Michi Weiss (Worlds runner-up) and three-time Olympian Olivier Marceau.   German XTERRA standouts Felix Schumann and Ronny Dietz are on the start list as well, however, “The athlete everyone will be cheering is local pro Karel Zadak,” said XTERRA director Dave Nicholas.  “Zadak had his finest moment in Italy where he battled Olivier Marceau for the entire race and finished just seconds behind the ex-World Champ in 4th place.  Zadak knows this course well and is perhaps the strongest biker for this course.”

For the women it should be a race between Swiss Renata Bucher, who is having a hall of fame year, against Carina Wasle.  Bucher, a three-time XTERRA European Tour Champ, has been winning consistently all year from Guam to Italy.  Wasle, however, was overrun in the swim in Italy and could never recover from coming out of the water behind 200 other athletes but she should fare much better in Hluboka.   Athletes from 12 different countries are headed for this beautiful Castle town just a few hours south of Prague.  The Czech Championship race has been held in Hluboka for seven years and has always been one of the most popular stops on the tour.

XTERRA FRANCE (AURON) CANCELED

The French village of Auron, host site to the XTERRA France Championship on Aug. 9, was not able to meet construction deadlines on a new lake that was to be the swim venue, thus forcing the cancellation of this year's event.  The September 20th XTERRA France race in Mandelieu will take its place as the French Championship race and Maui qualifier.

XTERRA NORTHEAST CUP: JULY 12

The seventh of eight races in the XTERRA Cup Series is the Northeast Cup at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont.  This first-time venue seems to have all the right ingredients to turn into an instant classic - a demanding course in the mountains, epic beauty, trademark trails that weave in-and-out of maple syrup lines, clean, crisp air and pure country charm all around. Twenty reasons to race at Sugarbush and the pro start list for the NE Cup can be found here.

SMITH WINS 3 LEGGED RACE ON SUNDAY

XTERRA Pro and mountain biking phenom Brian Smith (pictured) won the 3 Legged Dog mountain bike race on Sunday, a day after placing 5th at the XTERRA South Central Cup on an incredibly hot day in North Little Rock, Arkansas.  "Glad to be back in Gunny (Gunnison, CO) where its 77 and not 101.  XTERRA and MTB racing back-to-bac was a tough double given the triple digit temps," said Smith on Facebook.

VANORT, HOUSER WIN TORN SHIRT

Kaleb Vanort of Mishawaka, Indiana and Mindy Houser from Franklin, Michigan won the XTERRA Torn Shirt off-road tri in Brighton, MI on Sunday.  Vanort was 40 seconds better than six-time NC Region Champ Jim James while Houser was a full minute faster than Mimi Stockton.  See Full Results.

JABLONSKI, GROSSE WIN THE SOLSTICE

Pacific Northwest based age group phenoms Jason Jablonski - 2005 XTERRA Amateur World Champ - and Keri Grosse - XTERRA's current women's world champ - won the XTERRA Solstice off-road tri in La Grande, OR on Saturday.  Jablonski finished 8 minutes ahead of Matt Berg, while Grosse was 2 minutes ahead of Korrie Dubray.  Full Results.

A DOZEN MALAYSIANS HEADED TO MAUI

Nearly half of the amateur athletes who qualified for the XTERRA World Championship at the inaugural Malaysian Championship have signed-up and are headed to Maui.  The first-ever big XTERRA in Southeast Asia earlier this month was a huge success, a sellout with the Royal Family on hand to take in all the action, and with the solid entries coming in to take part in the sports biggest day - it certainly appears the XTERRA community has added yet another island paradise to its Tribe.