XTERRA EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP - FIRST TIME IN HISTORY * Lebrun and German Ute Schäfer became the first XTERRA European Champions * Frenchman Nicholas Lebrun
29.06.2004, 12:12
HLUBOKA NAD VLTAVOU (Czech Republic) June 29 (PROTEXT) - The
inaugural XTERRA European Championship was won by Nicolas Lebrun
of France in a time of 2:17:34. Less then a minute behind was the
host countries Jan Rehula and in third position, just under 2
minutes behind the winner came in Spaniard David Henestrosa.
The XTERRA European Championship attracted almost 300
individual competitors and another 120 for the 3 person relay to
the small picturesque town that is dominated by a beautiful
castle that sits on top of a hill right above the town.
The event commenced with a 1 km swim leg in the river Vltava.
First out of the water was England's Chris Volley just in front
of Jan Rehula.
The day's best cyclist surprisingly was Tomas Jiranek who
from 111th position after the swim fought all the way into 11th
by the end of the 33 km course, on the run Jiranek managed to
secure a top 10 finish at the expense of Frantisek Zilak. Lebrun
and fellow countryman Olivier Marceau, who now races in
Switzerland's colors, came into the bike transition side by side
third was Rehula. Marceau the 2000 road World Triathlon Champion
faded badly to drop back to 7th position during the run
Amongst the woman it was the American Jamie Whitmore to cross the finish line first in a time of 2:38:00 with Anke Erlank of South Africa just over 2 minutes behind. The first European Woman to cross the line and thus be crowned the European Champion was Germanys Ute Schaefer exactly 6 minutes behind Whitmore. The title of European Champion is awarded to the first European athlete, though athletes from all over the world are invited and welcomed to race and earn prize money according to the overall position they came in, explained race director Michal Pilousek. This was also the reason why this race saw the world's top XTERRA athletes compete, with pro athletes coming from all corners of the globe. "after the race I had the chance to speak to many of the elite athletes and they all agreed that the organization of this event, difficulty of the course and the natural setting of the whole event was excellent" commented Pilousek. Jamie Whitmore at the press conference claimed that the competition here is of a higher standard then at the World Championships. Lebrun was excited to be the first ever XTERRA European Champion and all elite athletes agreed that the course here in Hluboka is difficult and thus very good. Martin Koukal did not threaten the worlds top Triathletes Amongst 9 present and past world Champions from all sorts of triathlon disciplines, Martin Koukal last years Cross Country Skiing World Champion took to the starting line. The sensation of last year's race, 6th place, was not able to repeat his feat this year and finished in a very respectable 30th position. "I came here to have a good time, I do not care whether I am 20th or 30th" commented the tired but laughing skier at the finish line. Results XTERRA European Championship - E.ON XTERRA CZECH 2004: MEN: 1. Nicholas Lebrun (FRA) - 2:17:34 2. Jan Rehula (CZE) - 2:18:18 3. David Henestrosa (ESP) - 2:19:30 4. Justin Thomas (USA) - 2:19:53 5. Stefan Perg (AUT) - 2:21:15 6. Andrew Noble (AUS) - 2:21:22 7. Olivier Marceau (SUI) - 2:21:49 8. Robert Latschen (AUT) - 2:21:55 9. Jason Chalker (AUS) - 2:23:05 10. Tomáš Jiránek (CZE) - 2:23:391 WOMEN: 1. Jamie Whitmore (USA) - 2:38:00 (Europ.Champ.) 2. Anke Erlank (RSA) - 2:40:14 3. Ute Schaefer (GER) - 2:44:00 (Europ.Champ.) 4. Erika Csomor (HUN) - 2:45:32 5. Riikka Kelja (FIN) - 2:45:42 6. Stefania Bonazzi (ITA) - 2:46:30 7. Ingrid van Lubeck (NED) - 2:47:55 8. Katrin Helmcke (GER) - 2:48:08 9. Candy Angle (USA) - 2:50:00 10. Julie Bollerup (DEN) - 2:53:44 Contact: Silvie Procházková - media director of XTERRA European Champ. sp@xterraeurope.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT
Amongst the woman it was the American Jamie Whitmore to cross the finish line first in a time of 2:38:00 with Anke Erlank of South Africa just over 2 minutes behind. The first European Woman to cross the line and thus be crowned the European Champion was Germanys Ute Schaefer exactly 6 minutes behind Whitmore. The title of European Champion is awarded to the first European athlete, though athletes from all over the world are invited and welcomed to race and earn prize money according to the overall position they came in, explained race director Michal Pilousek. This was also the reason why this race saw the world's top XTERRA athletes compete, with pro athletes coming from all corners of the globe. "after the race I had the chance to speak to many of the elite athletes and they all agreed that the organization of this event, difficulty of the course and the natural setting of the whole event was excellent" commented Pilousek. Jamie Whitmore at the press conference claimed that the competition here is of a higher standard then at the World Championships. Lebrun was excited to be the first ever XTERRA European Champion and all elite athletes agreed that the course here in Hluboka is difficult and thus very good. Martin Koukal did not threaten the worlds top Triathletes Amongst 9 present and past world Champions from all sorts of triathlon disciplines, Martin Koukal last years Cross Country Skiing World Champion took to the starting line. The sensation of last year's race, 6th place, was not able to repeat his feat this year and finished in a very respectable 30th position. "I came here to have a good time, I do not care whether I am 20th or 30th" commented the tired but laughing skier at the finish line. Results XTERRA European Championship - E.ON XTERRA CZECH 2004: MEN: 1. Nicholas Lebrun (FRA) - 2:17:34 2. Jan Rehula (CZE) - 2:18:18 3. David Henestrosa (ESP) - 2:19:30 4. Justin Thomas (USA) - 2:19:53 5. Stefan Perg (AUT) - 2:21:15 6. Andrew Noble (AUS) - 2:21:22 7. Olivier Marceau (SUI) - 2:21:49 8. Robert Latschen (AUT) - 2:21:55 9. Jason Chalker (AUS) - 2:23:05 10. Tomáš Jiránek (CZE) - 2:23:391 WOMEN: 1. Jamie Whitmore (USA) - 2:38:00 (Europ.Champ.) 2. Anke Erlank (RSA) - 2:40:14 3. Ute Schaefer (GER) - 2:44:00 (Europ.Champ.) 4. Erika Csomor (HUN) - 2:45:32 5. Riikka Kelja (FIN) - 2:45:42 6. Stefania Bonazzi (ITA) - 2:46:30 7. Ingrid van Lubeck (NED) - 2:47:55 8. Katrin Helmcke (GER) - 2:48:08 9. Candy Angle (USA) - 2:50:00 10. Julie Bollerup (DEN) - 2:53:44 Contact: Silvie Procházková - media director of XTERRA European Champ. sp@xterraeurope.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT