A Spaniard and Brit have won the 2008 XTERRA World Championships in Hawaii.
Ruben Ruzafa, 24, from Spain and Julie Dibens, 33, from England won the men’s and women’s XTERRA World Championship this weekend in Maui.
“I decided to do this race two months ago after talking with (fellow countryman and 2003/04 XTERRA World Champ) Eneko Llanos,” said the current Spanish mountain biking champion. “I didn’t know I could do so well, but I thought if I didn’t lose too much time on the swim I would be able to catch up on the bike and hopefully hold on during the run.”
That’s exactly how it played out. Ruzafa, who only started swimming a year ago, came out of the swim more than two minutes behind a tight pack of leaders – Brent McMahon, Craig Evans, Branden Rakita, Eneko Llanos, Olivier Marceau, Seth Wealing, Hektor Llanos, Franky Batelier, and Conrad Stoltz – but was able to work his way to the front of the pack by about mile 14 on the bike and never looked back.
Dibens dominated the women’s race here in Maui for the second straight year, taking the lead from the very start of the swim all the way through the finish line with a winning time of 3:03:57, a full minute ahead of runner-up Danelle Kabush from Canada. Dibens is just the second woman to win the XTERRA World Championship in back-to-back years (following Melanie McQuaid’s 2005 and 2006 titles).
Read the Rest HERE or view Photos from the race HERE.
TOP 15 PRO MEN
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Ruben Ruzafa 24 Malaga, Spain 2:37:36 $25,000
2 Michael Weiss 27 Vienna, Austria 2:38:10 $15,000
3 Brent McMahon 28 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:40:56 $8,000
4 Mike Vine 35 Victoria, B.C., Canada 2:41:37 $5,000
5 Olivier Marceau 35 Vallavris, Switzerland 2:42:01 $3,000
6 Eneko Llanos 31 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain 2:42:49 $1,750
7 Josiah Middaugh 30 Vail, Colorado 2:42:56 $1,200
8 Dan Hugo 23 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:43:28 $1,000
9 Brian Smith 32 Gunnison, Colorado 2:43:47 $800
10 Chris Legh 35 Melbourne, Australia 2:45:20 $700
Also: Seth Wealing ($600), Conrad Stoltz ($500), Jim Thijs ($400), Ryan Ignatz ($300), Franky Batelier ($300), Karel Zadak, Scott Thorne, Branden Rakita, Nico Pfitzenmaier, Mark Leishman, Jim McConnel, Ruben Bravo, Dominic Gillen, James Kennedy, Craig Evans, Gianpietro De Faveri, Hektor Llanos, Jordan Bryden, Rom Akerson, Jan Kubicek, Yu Yumoto, Damian Gonzalez, Nat Faulkner, Cody Waite, Chad Seymour, Mike Champigny, Ryan DeCook, Tim Peddie.
TOP 15 PRO WOMEN
Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Julie Dibens 33 Bath, United Kingdom 3:03:57 $25,000
2 Danelle Kabush 33 Canmore, Alberta, Canada 3:04:56 $15,000
3 Shonny Vanlandingham 39 Durango, Colorado 3:10:49 $8,000
4 Renata Bucher 31 Lucerne, Switzerland 3:11:06 $5,000
5 Christine Jeffrey 35 Guelph, Ontario, Canada 3:11:50 $3,000
6 Jennifer Smith 35 Westport, New Zealand 3:15:59 $1,750
7 Jenny Tobin 39 Boise, Idaho 3:16:08 $1,200
8 Carina Wasle 22 Kundl, Austria 3:17:31 $1,000
9 Sara Tarkington 26 Boulder, Colorado 3:19:16 $800
10 Lesley Paterson 27 Sterling, Scotland 3:19:53 $700