Press and Media Center

XTERRA Switzerland Sept. 11

The 2010 XTERRA European Tour wraps up on September 11 with the inaugural XTERRA Switzerland Championship in Prangins.  "Kahuna Dave" Nicholas, the managing director of the XTERRA World Tour, previews the event...

The 2010 season has come down to the last race at a new village in Switzerland.  I’ve been to the site and it is fabulous.  Swimming in Lac Leman just a few kilometers from Geneva.  From the start, on a clear day you can see the amazing “Jet d’Eau” fountain that streams 450’ high.

The bike and run are very unusual and include lots of water crossings, running under bridges and roads, and some beautiful woods high above the lake.  Not extremely technical, with two laps for swim, bike, and run – it will be fast and fun.  Rumor has it the run course will go by seven-time Formula 1 Champ Michael Schumacher’s home.  Maybe he will sponsor an aid station?

Olivier Marceau (pictured) returns for this race and has been working and training hard on his mountain biking skills.  He will definitely challenge Franky Batelier who returned to form by winning in the rain at Czech but was handed his only European defeat in two seasons in his home country of France by Nico Lebrun.  Those three will be challenged by Germans Felix Schumann and Ronny Dietz and Englishman Ian Leitch who had a great race in Czech finishing 3rd. 

The women will see the happy return of Anna Bayliss-Scheiderbauer who is a past winner on the XTERRA Euro Tour.  Renata Bucher is Swiss, and she will race extra hard to win her national championship as well as clinch her 4th European title, but Marion Lorblanchet has tasted the winners’ cup this year, Carina Wasle is always in contention and Sybille Matter, also Swiss, are all present and will want to win.

For more information on this race and the XTERRA European Tour visit www.xterraeurope.com.

On a separate note, I was in Zittau and Oldenburg, Germany to see the devastation the floods caused our two XTERRA host villages.  Waters raged in the usually timid Neisse river as it rose from 30cm to 15 meters in a matter of hours.  Dozens of homes were flooded with over a meter of water inside the house and millions of dollars of furniture and housewares were ruined.

In the days after, the sun was shining, the temperature was 28 C but one could not miss tons of ruined goods sitting at the curb waiting for trucks to take them away.  Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of these villages and all the other people of the cities who suffered from this storm.  It was very correct to cancel the event.