MAUI PRINCE HOTEL - Makena, HI (October 28, 2007) – Conrad Stoltz, 34, from South Africa and Julie Dibens, 32, from England won the men’s and women’s XTERRA World Championship pro titles on an amazing 80-degree day in paradise this afternoon.

Stoltz, who finished just over a minute ahead of Olivier Marceau from France with a winning time of 2:40:54, became the first man to win a 3rd XTERRA World Championship (he also won in 2001 and 2002) while Julie Dibens dominated in her first every Maui race by crossing the finish line more than eight minutes ahead of runner-up Melanie McQuaid in 3:01:24. Both took home $25,000 for their efforts.

The first leg – a one-mile swim in the warm waters of the clear blue Pacific Ocean - proved who the strongest swimmers were. Twenty-year-old Jordan Bryden was first out of the water in 19:47, followed by Sergio Saruiento from Mexico, Bevan Docherty from New Zealand, then Marceau and Cedric Fleureton from France. The second pack included the brothers from Spain - Hektor and Eneko Llanos, chased closely by South Africans Lieuwe Boonstra and Stoltz.

Once out on the treacherous lava-strewn jeep track trails heading up the lower slopes of Haleakala, the race belonged to those with the biggest lungs and best abilities on the mountain bike. Stoltz went from 10th out of the water to first on the bike by the notorious Heartbreak Hill section at mile 4, followed 20 seconds back by Marceau, then Fleureton, Docherty and Llanos.

Six miles and more than 1,000-feet of climbing later (there’s 3,000 total feet of climbing on the bike) Marceau had taken over the lead with Stoltz 20 seconds back. Two-minutes later came Eneko Llanos, Docherty, and German Felix Schumann had moved into 5th. For the next mile the field was tasked with climbing roughly 600-feet to Ned’s Peak – the highest point on the course at 1,400 feet.

What goes up, must come down and a sharp right hand turn at the Peak sends riders down the Plunge – a furious downhill and site of some of the most gnarly crashes in XTERRA history. This is the spot on the course where Stoltz was anticipating making his move, but Marceau held position and remained in the lead at mile 15.5.

“I thought I could get away from him on the downhill but his technical skills have improved and I didn’t catch him until right at transition,” said Stoltz.

Stoltz and Marceau rode shoulder-to-shoulder into the bike-to-run transition and went stride for stride in the beginning of the 6.9 mile trail run until the first big climb when Stoltz started to pull away.

“We’ve been racing against each other for 11 years and I’ve never run faster and he’s always been a superior athlete, especially running,” said Stoltz. “At the 2000 Olympic games we were in the lead coming off the bike together and he ran two minutes faster, so I just thought I’d try to hang in there and see what happens. Then on the climbs I couldn’t believe it, he started slacking off and I though he was playing games with me. I concentrated, stuck to my pace and he dropped off. I was really blown away. I would have never fancied running away from Olivier, and even the other strong runners because this field is classy.”

Turned out Marceau wasn’t playing cat-and-mouse, he simply didn’t have enough to respond when Stoltz took off.

“I didn’t train for XTERRA, just on the track and for 10k flat on the concrete and it has nothing to do with this kind of race. My legs were very weak and I couldn’t keep up with Conrad. He’s used to this kind of race and he’s very strong and his pace is always the same,” said Marceau. “At the beginning I was feeling good and staying with Conrad. I was running my pace, but as soon as it started to go up I realized my legs were tired, I was almost walking and feeling very heavy, then I thought just about keeping my second place.”

Marceau finished 1:11 behind Stoltz and in the runner-up spot for the second straight year (he was 19 seconds behind Hamish Carter last year) and for the third time here in Maui (also 2nd in 2004).

Perhaps the most remarkable feat of the afternoon happened on the bike course behind the two frontrunners as American Brian Smith picked off more than 100 riders to move into the third position. Smith was 113th out of the water, and moved up to 3rd place by virtue of the fastest bike split – a blazing 1:30:51.

“This is definitely the best race of my XTERRA career and to do it in the biggest race of the season is really special,” said Smith.

While Smith was stellar on the bike, Aussie Chris Legh was magic on the run. Propelled by the fastest split of the day (43:53) he passed eight guys to finish 4th overall, his best finish in Maui. It’s the second time Legh has had the fastest run of the day in Maui (also in 2003).

“I’ve raced here enough to know you gotta keep going and when I got to the run I was fortunate my legs turned around because if I ran like I rode I’d have been in trouble,” said Legh.

Bevan Docherty, the Silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic triathlon event, came out of the water with the leaders, had the 13th best bike and the second best run to round out the top 5.

“It was a fun race, harder than I thought, and I certainly have a lot of respect for those guys like Conrad,” said Docherty, whose only other XTERRA was in Colorado back in 2002. “But, for my first world champs I’m really happy because this is one of the hardest races out there. On the bike I was just waiting for the descent, but then you can’t sit down, you can’t even relax on the downhill, so you’re constantly working and that’s something that gets to you. Just the constant grinding and no relaxing. It’s a really hard race.”

Felix Schumann had a brilliant race for 6th, 2005 XTERRA World Champ Nico Lebrun finished 7th, Canadian Mike Vine was 8th, Spain’s David Henestrosa 9th, and Nico Pfitzenmaier placed 10th. American favorites Josiah Middaugh (17th) and Seth Wealing (46th) both had mechanicals.

DIBENS IN CONTROL FROM START TO FINISH

For the first time in four years the women’s XTERRA World Champion isn’t named Melanie McQuaid (2003-05-06 winner) or Jamie Whitmore (04).

“Breaking the Melanie-Jamie streak had to be done. They’ve dominated the last four years, and somebody needed to break in there and the fact it was me was fantastic,” said Dibens. “Of course I know they’ll come back next year stronger and they’ll be gunning for me.”

Julie Dibens was flawless and led the race from start to finish by posting the fastest swim (more than a minute faster than Sibylle Matter and two minutes quicker than McQuaid), the 4th best bike and the best run.

“I think I pretty much had the perfect race, it was awesome! I had a good swim, and knew I had to have that lead coming out. Then I got out on the bike and put my head down, didn’t look back, didn’t ask for splits, just concentrated on what I was doing,” said Dibens.

Early on the bike 3x XTERRA World Champ McQuaid looked poised to chase Dibens down as she cut a minute out of Dibens swim lead by mile 4. By mile 15, Dibens had added a little to her lead and by the bike-to-run transition she had 1:24 on McQuaid.

“Julie was really strong and I don’t want to take anything away from her race because she’s awesome and I look forward to another chance to do battle with her, but I didn’t have the kind of race that really made it much of a battle and that’s disappointing,” said McQuaid.

Whitmore was in a pretty big hole from the start as she exited the swim more than four minutes behind Dibens. Her sixth best bike split landed her in 6th position at the bike-to-run transition where she turned on the jets and moved into 3rd at the finish line.

“I actually had a strong swim but definitely not what Julie can do,” said Whitmore. “I had a descent race, it wasn’t what I wanted or what I expected but I had a lot of cramping issues, and you can’t ride to the best of your ability when you’re cramping. After crashing out last year there’s no way I can complain this year. I learned something new, and I had a phenomenal season and this isn’t the end of me so it’s just a matter of getting everything together.”

The surprise of the day was 21-year-old Daniela Campuzano from Mexico who came into this race as a total unknown and then posted the second-best bike split and went out on the run in third. Unfortunately for Daniela, the hard charge on the bike took away from her run and she dropped six spots to 9th overall.

American mountain biking phenom Shonny Vanlandingham posted the fastest bike split in Maui for the second time in three years and coupled together a solid swim and run to finish in 4th place. Candy Angle, the 2002 XTERRA World Champ, finished 5th.

TOP 15 PRO MEN
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Conrad Stoltz 34 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:40:54 $25,000
2 Olivier Marceau 34 Cannes, France 2:42:05 $15,000
3 Brian Smith 32 Gunnison, Colorado 2:42:35 $8,000
4 Chris Legh 35 Lyons, Australia 2:44:26 $5,000
5 Bevan Docherty 30 Taupo, New Zealand 2:44:54 $3,000
6 Felix Schumann 25 Germany 2:45:04 $1,750
7 Nicolas Lebrun 34 Digne-Les-Bains, France 2:45:19 $1,200
8 Mike Vine 34 Victoria, Canada 2:45:57 $1,000
9 David Henestrosa 30 Manresa, Spain 2:47:04 $800
10 Nico Pfitzenmaier 36 Besigheim, Germany 2:47:53 $700
Also: Hektor Llanos - Spain ($600), Lieuwe Boonstra - South Africa ($500), Eneko Llanos – Spain ($400),
Sam Gardner – United Kingdom ($300), Jim Thijs – Belgium ($300)

TOP 15 PRO WOMEN
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Julie Dibens 32 Bath, United Kingdom 3:01:24 $25,000
2 Melanie McQuaid 34 Victoria, Canada 3:09:52 $15,000
3 Jamie Whitmore 31 Mt. Aukum, California 3:11:37 $8,000
4 Shonny Vanlandingham 38 Durango, Colorado 3:12:44 $5,000
5 Candy Angle 38 Weymouth, Massachusetts 3:13:14 $3,000
6 Dara Marks Marino 32 Flagstaff, Arizona 3:14:41 $1,750
7 Sibylle Matter 34 Bern, Switzerland 3:15:56 $1,200
8 Michelle Lombardi 39 Somerset West, South Africa 3:19:47 $1,000
9 Daniela Campuzano 21 Tulancingo, Mexico 3:22:02 $800
10 Carina Wasle 23 Kundl, Austria 3:22:33 $700

Also: Anna Scheiderbauer - Germany, Sara Tarkington - USA, Amber Monforte – USA, Kristy Lanier - USA
Fastest swim: Jordan Bryden, (19:47), Julie Dibens (20:16)
Fastest bike: Brian Smith (1:30:51), Shonny Vanlandingham (1:46:32)
Fastest run: Chris Legh (45:11), Julie Dibens (49:58)

AGE GROUP RACE: Alexander Eiler from Kailua (Oahu) via Austria was the top amateur finisher, finishing 26th overall in 2:57:34. On the women’s side Marion Summerer from Honolulu, HI (via Freiburg, Germany) was the top amateur, placing 14th overall among women in 3:29:35. Repeat XTERRA World Champions include Tom Lyons (6), Kent Robison (5), Cindi Toepel (3), Marion Summerer (2), and Beverly Enslow (2).

Also of note, Amy Bennett from Honolulu did the entire race in a cast (protected by a gortex cast liner) after breaking her wrist on Tuesday.

XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONS (MALE AGE GROUP)
Division Name Time Hometown
15 – 19 Martin Jiskra 3:05:01 Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic
20 - 24 Nicolas Fernandez 3:01:14 Pelissannee, France
25 - 29 Lars Fricke 3:00:01 Apolda, Germany
30 - 34 Alexander Eiler 2:57:34 Kailua, Hawaii
35 - 39 Laurent Beuzeboo 2:58:04 Saint Bonnet, France
40 - 44 Ulrich Katzer 3:02:02 Anger, Australia
45 - 49 (6) Tom Lyons 3:09:01 Reno, Nevada
50 - 54 Tom Monica 3:25:19 Walnut Creek, California
55 - 59 James Lewis 3:45:39 Broomfield, Colorado
60 - 64 (5) Kent Robison 3:43:37 Reno, Nevada
65 - 69 Art Gardenswartz 4:27:07 Albuquerque, New Mexico
70+ Nathaniel Grew 5:44:25 Costa Rica
Physically Challenged Division: Fouad Fattoumy 3:46:33, Honolulu, Hawaii

XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONS (FEMALE AGE GROUP)
Division Name Time Hometown
15 - 19 Monique Avery 3:56:35 Rotorua, New Zealand
20 - 24 Erin Beresini 4:06:11 Hermosa Beach, California
25 - 29 (2) Marion Summerer 3:29:35 Honolulu, Hawaii
30 - 34 Susie Wood 3:31:54 Nelson, New Zealand
35 - 39 Lisa Lieb 3:39:09 Durango, Colorado
40 - 44 Kaja Polivkova 3:41:05 Prague, Czech Republic
45 - 49 Meiling Yee 3:54:57 Sunnyvale, California
50 - 54 (2) Beverly Enslow 3:56:52 Metamora, Illinois
55 - 59 (3) Cindi Toepel 4:24:55 Littleton, Colorado
(#) denotes number of World Championships won
Top Amateurs

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES DOUBLE: Eneko Llanos won the Hawaiian Airlines men’s title for the second straight year and Erika Csomor won it for the first time. Llanos was seventh at the Ironman World Championship with a time of 8:26:00 and placed 13th today in 2:51:17 for a combined 11:17:17. Csomor was 10th at Ironman in 9:39:47 and 16th today in 3:33:03 for a combined 13:12:50.

Graham Wadsworth from the UK and Beate Kleindienst from Germany won the amateur double titles. Hawaiian Airlines awarded $2,500 each to Llanos and Csomor and awarded airfare from the West Coast to Hawaii for Wadsworth and Kleindienst.

The XTERRA World Championship is the final stop on the XTERRA Global Tour - a national and international series of 100+ qualifying events held in Argentina, Brazil, Saipan, Germany, Austria, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Denmark, United Kingdom, Italy, South Africa, Japan & the United States.
533 athletes from 24 countries and 38 U.S. states competed in the event that consisted of a 1-mile swim, 20-mile mountain bike up and down the lower slopes of Haleakala, and a 6.9-mile trail run on lava and sand. The race was filmed for a one-hour TV show that will begin airing across the country via national syndication starting in January.

The XTERRA World Championship is presented by Paul Mitchell, XTERRA Gear, Hawaiian Airlines, the Maui Visitors Bureau and Maui Prince Hotel. Sponsors include GU, Pacifico, Travelocity, Gatorade, Zorrel, X92.5 radio station, Breeder’s Choice, and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.