Some 600 racers from more than 20 states and nine countries are converging on Vail Lake Resort in the heart of Southern California’s wine country in Temecula for Sunday’s XTERRA West Championship. The main event, featuring a mile swim in warm water, a 20-mile hilly but fast mountain bike section, and a grueling 6-mile trail run, is the first of four regional championships on the 2008 XTERRA America Tour. Nearly 50 pros are signed up looking to grab their share of the $20,000 prize purse and pick-up some points in the Pro Series. All of the XTERRA Pro mainstays headlined by three-time World Champ Conrad Stoltz will be on-hand, including 13 of the top 15 pro men from last year’s race. Two amateur stars from last year – Jeff Smith (25-29 XTERRA National Champ) and Damian Gonzalez (30-34 XTERRA National Champ) have made the leap to the pro division and will be racing for money on Sunday. Making his XTERRA debut is none-other-than U.S. Olympian Victor Plata (who placed 27th at the 2004 Olympic triathlon event), while mountain bike legend Steve Larsen is making his return to XTERRA at Temecula.

There are plenty of great story lines on the women’s side as well with the ageless Michellie Jones racing in her first XTERRA since winning the first XTERRA event ever held back in 1996, the return of Danelle Kabush (who was 2nd at XTERRA Worlds in her last XTERRA), along with Jenny Tobin and Lisa Isom. Two-time overall amateur XTERRA World Champ Marion Summerer is now in the pro ranks, and everyone is waiting to see if Linda Gallo will be the first person overall to exit the water on Sunday (she was second out of the water at Ironman World Champs last year). There are two late drops – Shonny Vanlandingham and Jenny Smith – both due to injuries that should heal in time for the Southeast Champs in Alabama on June 8. Jamie Whitmore will not be racing due to her off-season health problems, but will be teaching at the XTERRA University mountain bike clinic and we hope to see her on the start line by the end of the year. The favorite is therefore no surprise – 3x XTERRA World Champ and 3x winner of the West Championship – Melanie McQuaid.

The temperatures in Temecula promise to be as hot as the racing, so stay tuned to xterraplanet.com to see how it all turns out.

UPDATED PRO START LIST FOR XTERRA WEST
Pro Men
USA - Jimmy Archer, Brian Astell, Matthew Balzer, Andrew Biglow, Ryan DeCook, Craig Evans, Scott Gall, Dominic Gillen, Damian Gonzalez, Ryan Ignatz, Brandon Jessop, Tyler Johnson, Jordan Jones, Will Kelsay, Steve Larsen, Dave Messenheimer, Josiah Middaugh, Victor Plata, Branden Rakita, Brian Smith, Jeff Smith, Jim Vance, Cody Waite, Seth Wealing
AUSTRALIA - Andrew Noble
CANADA - Mike Vine
SOUTH AFRICA - Dan Hugo, Conrad Stoltz
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Pro Women
USA - Candy Angle, Sarah Gall, Linda Gallo, Lisa Isom, Amber Monforte, Jenny Tobin
AUSTRALIA - Michellie Jones
CANADA - Christine Jeffrey, Danelle Kabush, Melanie McQuaid
GERMANY - Marion Summerer

LYONS, LIEB WIN LAND ROVER G4 CHALLENGE NEVADA PASSAGE
Just twenty miles north of the bright lights and lavish casinos in Las Vegas, Lisa Lieb (Durango, CO) and her partner Tom Lyons (Reno, NV) won it big – taking top honors at the 2008 Land Rover G4 Challenge Nevada Passage which wrapped up four days and 1,000 miles of adventure competition last Friday, May 9.

With the victory Lyons and Lieb move on to the international selection event at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire, United Kingdom in early 2009 along with the second place team of Peter Hanson (Minneapolis, MN) and Sarah McMahan (Incline Village, NV). At the UK event one male and one female competitor from those two teams will be selected to represent the United States against teams from 17 other countries in the three-week-long Land Rover G4 Challenge finals in Asia mid-2009.

Lyons is the most decorated amateur XTERRA athlete of all-time with six USA and World Championship crowns to his credit, and his partner Lieb is the reigning XTERRA USA, European, and World Champ in the 35-39 division. Hanson is a 2-time XTERRA North Central Region Champ and McMahan won the highly competitive 35-39 Southwest Region last year. Both XTERRA and America will be well represented by these four amazing adventure athletes.

Nearly 100 hours of video was captured by the 20-member strong TEAM Unlimited television crew during the week, creating perhaps an even bigger challenge than the event itself – editing it all down for a one-hour show. The broadcast will start its run in national syndication in August, with airings through February of 2009.

Log on to www.nevadapassage.com for highlights and photos from the event, and follow along at landroverG4challenge.com as Lieb, Lyons, McMahan, and Hanson strive to become the first Americans to win an international G4 competition.