Van Egdom, Bramley win XTERRA Netherlands

For Van Egdom, normally found racing the ITU circuit, it is his first victory in his very first appearance in an XTERRA. It is also the first XTERRA win for Bramley, who placed 10th in her elite debut at XTERRA Germany last month.

Complete Results / Photo Gallery

In the men’s elite race Jens Roth was first out of the water, followed by local favorite and eventual winner Van Egdom 26 seconds back. Martijn Dekker exited in third, 17 seconds later. Francois Carloni had a great swim and was alone in fourth followed by locals Victor Goene and Erik Wolsing a further 10 seconds behind the Frenchman.

Van Egdom pushed hard early on the bike and had the lead at 7K, followed by Roth, Dekker, Carloni and Luxem in a group less than a minute behind him.

"I had a good swim but was not used to pushing this hard for 90 minutes on the bike," said Egdom. "I tried to stay focused as I didn’t want to risk an injury. The run was also hard for me but I loved the race. I am very happy with my victory here today."

Carloni attacked and bridged to the leader as they reached the sandy beach at 25K with the chase group now more than a minute back.

"It was a great day for me as I secured my third-place finish in the Euro Tour," said Carloni. "I was very close to the leaders after the swim. On the bike, I caught Van Egdom and we were riding together, but we made bad choices on the lines we followed on the flat section of the beach and spent a lot of energy. Then on the run I was out of power to fight for a better place. Overall, I am happy with my third place on the podium today."

The long beach section was the one of the most challenging and tactical parts of the race. Athletes had to ride for approximately 8K on the sand where choosing the correct line could make a big difference in the outcome of the race.

This is where the group of Lauryssen, Roth, and Coddens closed the gap to the front.  As soon as this group reached the end of the beach Lauryssen attacked to take the lead and went into transition in first place.

"My swim was not bad and on the bike, I worked with Coddens and Van Daele and caught the others in front," said Lauryssen. "I attacked during the last part of the bike on the dunes as I wanted to be first into transition. But on the run, I was not able to stay with Egdom. I am still so happy with my second place."

Carloni entered in second 2:30 behind and Van Egdom in third a further minute back. Once onto the run Van Egdom pushed hard and took the lead by the end of the first lap.

While the racing was tight, no positions changed during the second lap allowing Van Egdom to cross the finish line with a time of 2:27:29. Lauryssen finished second, his best result in an XTERRA. Carloni was third, Coddens fourth, and Dekker closed the podium finishing fifth.

XTERRA Netherlands Elite Men Results

In the women’s elite race Nicole Walters was first out of the water with Kate Bramley right behind in second place. The pair were followed by local favorite Linda van Vliet in third more than six minutes back.

Once on the bike Walters was able to build a 43 second lead over Bramley during the first 20K of the bike.

"I’m happy to have closed the door on this season," said Walters. "It has not been a great year with illness and injury, but I’m glad I got to visit the beautiful island of Ameland."

Van Vliet was pushing hard, using her beach racing experience and was now only three minutes behind Walters.

"I am happy that I was able to do all disciplines today and I am astonished to finish second," said Van Vliet. "I broke my arm last year and had an operation some months ago. I lost a lot of time on the swim and because of that I tried to push on the bike to close the gap on the other girls. Walters had some issues on the sandy parts, so I was able to pass her, then on the run I tried to do my best and finished second."

The surprise of the day was ex elite Pauline Sasserath, now racing age group, who rode strongly during the 8K beach section on the way to transition to pass everybody in front of her and start the run in first place overall.

For the elites, Van Vliet exited T2 first followed by Walters in second almost one-minute back and Bramley in third a further two minutes behind.

Bramley pushed hard on the run to record the fastest run split of the day passing everybody in front to cross the finish line first with a time of 2:53:11. Van Vliet finished second and Walters finished third.

"I was close to Walters on the swim, but the bike was hard for me on this unique terrain on the sand," said Bramley.  "I need to work more and improve on my bike performance for the future. I know I am a good runner and pushed hard on the first loop to try to catch the girls in front. I was able to pass them and take my first victory in an XTERRA." 

XTERRA Netherlands Elite Women Results

Serrieres, Karaskova win 2019 XTERRA European Tour 

Arthur Serrieres from France and Helena Karaskova from Czech Republic are the 2019 XTERRA European Tour Champions after 14 of 14 events.  Elites counted their best eight scores of the season.  Learn more at xterraplanet.com.

Top 15 Elite Men XTERRA European Tour Standings

Top 15 Elite Women XTERRA European Tour Standings