Lebrun and Erbenova claim XTERRA Switzerland titles
They also win the XTERRA European crowns.
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
1Â Nico Lebrun, FRA Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â d82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 90 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 390
2 Asa Shaw, FRA         x            100            90            100            90            380
3Â Alexander Haas, GER Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 90 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 69 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â d41 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 323
4Â Ben Allen, AUS Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 90 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 49 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 69 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â d41 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 290
5 Francois Carloni, FRA       63          63          x          63          69         258
Pos          Name       ITA          FRA          CZE          GER          SUI          TOT
1Â Helena Erbenova, CZE Â Â Â Â Â d90 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 400
2Â Jacqui Slack, GBR Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 100 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 75Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 82 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 339
3Â Carina Wasle, AUT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â d69 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 75 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 90 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 75 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 75 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 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.