Triathlon

xterraplanet.com

Nico Lebrun and Helena Erbenova won the XTERRA Switzerland Championship race and captured the XTERRA European Tour pro titles on a beautiful day for a sold-out field of XTERRA Warriors in Prangins on Saturday.

Lebrun (pictured), a 39-year-old from Digne, France, was seventh out of the water then posted the fastest bike and run splits for a winning time of 2:17:44, just 27-seconds ahead of runner-up Asa Shaw.  With the win Lebrun also secured the Euro Tour Championship with 390 points (wins at Italy, Czech, Swiss, and a 2nd place at Germany).  Shaw finished second in the series with 380 points (wins at France and Germany, and 2nd place finishes at Czech and Swiss).

It marks the fourth time Lebrun has won the XTERRA European Tour title, and the first time since 2008.  The 2005 XTERRA World Champion now has 26 career XTERRA Championship victories since his first at the 2002 XTERRA East Championship in Richmond, VA.

“Today he beat them in their heads,” explained XTERRA managing director Dave Nicholas.  “There were four guys within 20-feet of each other coming off the bike.  That’s why he’s the professor.”

Aussie Ben Allen had the fastest swim and led the bike early before Shaw, Lebrun, and Olivier Marceau caught up towards the end of the bike.  On the run Lebrun took over and Shaw passed Allen for second-place.  Allen finished third, followed by Marceau and Francois Carloni in fifth.

“Beautiful day, I had legs and juice,” posted Lebrun to his Facebook page after the race.

ERBENOVA DOMINANT

In just her second year of racing XTERRA Helena Erbenova (pictured) has become a dominant force on the XTERRA European Tour.  The 33-year-old from Balatkova competed for the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and has turned the grittiness learned from battling the cold into XTERRA success.

In her last six starts Erbenova finished a surprising third at the XTERRA World Championship last year, was second at the Euro Tour season-opener in Italy, and has since won four straight at XTERA France, Czech, Germany, and today - Switzerland.

While Erbenova came out of the water a full three minutes after the leaders - Jacqui Slack and Marion Lorblanchet - she crushed the bike (best split by four minutes) and the run (best run by two minutes) and won by nearly four minutes over last year’s Euro Tour Champ Marion Lorblanchet.

After a season spent battling injuries Lorblanchet came in healthy and was impressive for second-place, with XTERRA Italy champ Jacqui Slack in third, Carina Wasle fourth and Lenka Cibulkova fifth.

XTERRA Switzerland Elite Results

Pro Men

Pl             Name             Nat             Time

1             Nico Lebrun             FRA             2:17:44

2             Asa Shaw             FRA             2:18:12

3             Ben Allen             AUS             2:18:36

4             Olivier Marceau             SUI             2:21:32

5             Francois Carloni             FRA             2:24:24

6             Graham Wadsworth             GBR             2:25:16

7             Hector Guerra             ESP             2:25:30

8             Patrick Rhyner             SUI             2:25:58

9             Jan Kubicek             CZE             2:26:26

10             Pierre-Yves Facomprez             FRA             2:26:33

Pro Women

Pl             Name             Country             Time

1             Helena Erbenova             CZE             2:38:35

2             Marion Lorblanchet             FRA             2:42:27

3             Jacqui Slack             GBR             2:43:54

4             Carina Wasle             AUT             2:47:47

5             Lenka Cibulkova             CZE             2:56:11

6             Laetitia Moreau             FRA             3:01:56

LEBRUN, ERBENOVA WIN EURO TOUR TITLES

Lebrun and Erbenova put exclamation points on fantastic seasons today in Switzerland.  Pros counted their best four finishes in the five-stop Tour.  Here’s a look at the top five in this years XTERRA European Tour. Complete standings with age group champions will be posted soon at xterraeurope.com.

Pos           Name         ITA            FRA            CZE            GER            SUI            TOT

1  Nico Lebrun, FRA        100             d82            100           90           100          390

2  Asa Shaw, FRA          x             100             90             100             90             380

3  Alexander Haas, GER          82            90            82         69           d41          323

4  Ben Allen, AUS          90             49             69             d41             82             290

5  Francois Carloni, FRA        63           63           x           63           69          258

Pos           Name        ITA           FRA           CZE           GER           SUI           TOT

1  Helena Erbenova, CZE       d90         100         100         100         100         400

2  Jacqui Slack, GBR          100            82            75            0            82            339

3  Carina Wasle, AUT         d69          75           90           75            75            315

4  Maud Golsteyn, NED        75           58           82            82           x             297

5  Lenka Cibulkova, CZE          x           x           69           58           69           196

Next on the XTERRA World Tour: The XTERRA Switzerland Championship is one of 16 major XTERRA World Tour events, and the last stop on the XTERRA European Tour.  Up next, the XTERRA USA Championship to conclude the America Tour on Sept. 22, then on to XTERRA Worlds in Maui.