Karsten Madsen and Suzie Snyder captured the XTERRA Victoria Championship titles on a gorgeous day around Durrance Lake in British Columbia, Canada this morning.

It’s the second straight win in Victoria for Madsen and the fourth victory this season for Snyder, the reigning XTERRA Pan America Tour Champion.  Both Madsen, from Canada, and Snyder, from the U.S., led from start-to-finish and took the tape with winning times of 2:08:36 and 2:29:35, respectively.

“It was nice to defend and get my 3rd career major title for sure,” exclaimed Madsen. “I pushed the first lap of the swim then settled in for the second loop. I’ve committed a lot of time to riding BC single track and I was very confident in my technical riding so I was able to stay on the pace of the days best ride (Chris Ganter had the fastest bike split of the day with a 1:05:29, three seconds quicker than Madsen). On the run, I felt relaxed and strong and just stayed focused on making smart decisions. I take a lot of pride in racing in Canada and always want to defend home soil. I’m thrilled to get the win.”

Jean-Philippe Thibodeau (CAN) and Branden Rakita (USA) finished second and third in the elite men’s race, while Morgane Riou from France passed last year’s Victoria Champ Katie Button (CAN) on the run to take the runner-up spot in the elite women’s race.

For Snyder, her first trip to Victoria was a memorable one.

“I absolutely LOVED everything about it,” said Snyder.  “The area is beautiful, the people are extremely friendly, and the race course was AWESOME!  The swim was a lot like Alabama, clean and clear and the perfect temperature for a non-wetsuit swim.  Also, a really great mountain bike course that used a double track regional trail to link up to a lot of fun single track which was rather technical so you had to have some power and good skills to ride everything clean. The run had a good variety with a short flat, smooth section, some root strewn rolling terrain and a couple long tough climbs and tricky downhills where you had to be really mindful of your footing.”

Elite Results / Complete Results

Pos Elite Men Time Points 1 Karsten Madsen, CAN 2:08:36 75 2 Jean-Philippe Thibodeau, CAN 2:13:15 67 3 Branden Rakita, USA 2:14:14 61 4 Chris Ganter, USA 2:15:49 56 5 Cedric Wane, TAH 2:19:34 51 Pos Elite Women Time Points 1 Suzie Snyder, USA 2:29:35 75 2 Morgane Riou, FRA 2:31:43 67 3 Katie Button, CAN 2:33:47 61 4 Zoe Dawson, CAN 2:37:03 56 5 Kara LaPoint, USA 2:40:06 51 6 Ladina Buss, SUI 2:42:05 47 7 Maia Ignatz, USA 2:45:08 43 8 Jessie Koltz, USA 2:46:57 39 9 Kelli Montgomery, USA 2:53:28 36 10 Debby Sullivan, USA 2:54:56 33 11 Heather Zimchek-Dunn, USA 3:05:35 30 12 Annie Bergen, CAN 3:14:20 27

Three-time XTERRA World Champion Melanie McQuaid also put on quite a show, not as a racer, but as one of the race announcers.  She’s gearing up for Ironman Canada but will be back in the dirt for ITU Cross Tri Worlds in Penticton and hopefully again for XTERRA Worlds.  Here she gives us her thoughts on the day’s elite races…

Karsten was pretty much in his element and really was the class of the field for the men.  Same with Suzie, both were the strongest without question winning wire to wire.

In the men’s race it was all Karsten, all day.  He was first out of the water, had a 3′ lead off the bike and built on it.  Branden and JP had a great battle for 2/3 with Chris Ganter and Mike Vine coming in 4th/ 5th off the bike. Chris Ganter was solid in fourth but he spent a little too much time enjoying Durrance Lake to be a factor with the guys up front.  Mike Vine made the blunder of choosing not to wear a top at all because of the swim skin rules and got DQ’d for too much brawn on display.  This eliminated what might have been a good battle with Cedric Ware from Tahiti who rounded out the top five.  Kieran McPherson had a crash on the bike and I sure hope he is okay!

In the women’s race, Suzie had a huge lead coming out of the water and never felt any pressure.  She never would know that Morgane Riou was running three-minutes into her at the end of the race.  Katie Button came off the bike second and held Morgane for a lap of the run which was really impressive as Morgane is an extraordinary runner, really beautiful to watch.  Up and comers Zoe Dawson from Squamish and Kara LaPoint from Truckee were in the same swim group and caught Ladina Buss from Switzerland on the bike.  Zoe’s run got the better of Kara so she was fourth and Kara held fifth.

What I thought was the story of the day was 16-year-old Tate Haughan from Fort St John.  He was the top age group athlete overall, matched Ironman legend Tom Evans’ swim, and had a bike time matching Branden and JP.  Look out for that kid – he would have been fourth overall today!

All in all, we had perfect weather, a great vibe, and fun racing.  It was fun to be a part of it all, and I hope to see you all next year!

 

RAKITA, SNYDER STILL LEAD PAN AM PRO SERIES

Branden Rakita and Suzie Snyder held strong to their top spots in the XTERRA Pan America Tour with their performances today.

Thibodeau and Middaugh also stayed put at No. 2 and No. 3, with Madsen jumping past Gonzalo Tellechea into the No. 4 spot, and there was no change in position at all among the top five women.

Up next: XTERRA Beaver Creek this Saturday in Avon, Colorado.

2017 XTERRA PAN AMERICA TOUR POINT STANDINGS After 6 (As of 7.9) S S S S G S PL NAME, NAT TOT ARG CHI CRC BRA OAK VIC 1 Branden Rakita, USA 289 56 47 56 DNS 69 61 2 Jean-Philippe Thibodeau, CAN 282 61 56 61 DNS 37 67 3 Josiah Middaugh, USA 175 DNS DNS 75 DNS 100 DNS 4 Karsten Madsen, CAN 165 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 75 5 Gonzalo Tellechea, ARG 142 75 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 6 Felipe Moletta, BRA 136 DNS 61 DNS 75 DNS DNS 7 Kieran McPherson, NZL 130 DNS DNS DNS 67 63 DNS 8 Maximiliano Morales, ARG 118 67 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 9 Chris Ganter, USA 114 DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 56 10 Ian King, USA 108 DNS 27 47 DNS 34 DNS 11 Ryan Ignatz, USA 104 DNS DNS 51 DNS 53 DNS 12 León Drajer, ESP 94 51 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 13 Cedric Wane, TAH 92 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 51 14 Julien Buffe, FRA 82 43 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS 15 Francisco Serrano, MEX 82 DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS 16 Felipe Barraza, CHI 75 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 17 Brian Smith, USA 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 18 Guiherme Goncalves, BRA 72 DNS DNS 36 36 DNS DNS 19 Kris Coddens, BEL 67 DNS DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS 20 Alexandre Manzan, BRA 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS 21 Micheal Nunez, USA 61 DNS DNS 30 DNS 31 DNS 22 Frederico Zacharias, BRA 56 DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS 23 Henrique Lugarini, BRA 51 DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS 24 Veit Hoenle, GER 49 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS 25 Andres Darricau, ARG 47 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 26 Diogo Malagon, BRA 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS 27 Cody Waite, USA 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS 28 Greg Schott, USA 43 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS 29 Rodrigo Moreira, BRA 43 DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS 30 Federico Venegas, CRC 39 DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS 31 Silveira Silva, BRA 39 DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS 32 Diego Moya, CHI 36 DNS 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS 33 Guilherme Goncalves, BRA 36 DNS DNS DNS 36 DNS DNS 34 Gaspar Riveros, CHI 33 DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS 35 Billy Gordon, PAN 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS 36 Anderson Ferreira, BRA 33 DNS DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS 37 Benjamin Munizaga, CHI 30 DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS 38 Wellington Conceicao, BRA 30 DNS DNS DNS 30 DNS DNS 39 Ryan DeCook, USA 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS 40 Andres Zuniga, CRC 27 DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS 41 Pericles Andrade, BRA 27 DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS 42 Fernando Melo, BRA 25 DNS DNS DNS 25 DNS DNS 43 Leonardo Lisboa, BRA 23 DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS ELITE WOMEN S S S S G S PL NAME, NAT TOT ARG CHI CRC BRA OAK VIC 1 Suzie Snyder, USA 392 75 67 75 DNS 100 75 2 Kara LaPoint, USA 293 61 56 67 DNS 58 51 3 Sabrina Gobbo, BRA 235 56 51 DNS 75 53 DNS 4 Laura Mira Dias, BRA 221 51 47 56 67 DNP DNS 5 Morgane Riou, FRA 195 67 61 DNS DNS DNS 67 6 Katie Button, CAN 124 DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 61 7 Liz Gruber, USA 120 DNS DNS 51 DNS 69 DNS 8 Annie Bergen, CAN 119 DNS DNS 61 DNS 31 27 9 Maia Ignatz, USA 118 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 43 t10 Lesley Paterson, GBR 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS t10 Julie Baker, USA 82 DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS t10 Caroline Colonna, USA 75 DNS DNS 47 DNS 28 DNS 13 Barbara Riveros, CHI 75 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 14 Debby Sullivan, USA 74 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 33 15 Kelli Montgomery, USA 70 DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 36 16 Isabella Ribeiro, BRA 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS 17 Vanessa Cabrini, BRA 56 DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS 18 Zoe Dawson, CAN 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 19 Fernanda Prieto, BRA 51 DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS 20 Katharine Carter, CAN 49 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS 21 Brisa Melcop, BRA 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS 22 Ladina Buss, SUI 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 23 Emma Garrard, USA 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS 24 Jessie Koltz, USA 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 25 Anne Usher, USA 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 26 Heather Zimchek-Dunn, USA 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 30

XTERRA WORLD TOUR

XTERRA Victoria was the sixth of 10 races on the XTERRA Pan America Tour, and 24th of 40 on the XTERRA World Tour where amateur athletes from around the world can qualify to race at the 22nd annual XTERRA World Championship in Maui on Oct. 29.

Date Race Elite Winners or Location 25-Feb XTERRA South Africa Richard Murray / Flora Duffy 4-Mar XTERRA Motatapu Dougal Allan / Josie Wilcox 18-Mar XTERRA Saipan + Silver Sam Osborne / Carina Wasle 25-Mar XTERRA Argentina # Silver Gonzalo Tellechea / Suzie Snyder 1-Apr XTERRA Thailand + Silver Kieran McPherson / Renata Bucher 1-Apr XTERRA Chile # Silver Felipe Barraza / Barbara Riveros 2-Apr XTERRA Malta * Silver Roger Serrano / Brigitta Poor 8-Apr XTERRA New Zealand + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 9-Apr XTERRA Costa Rica # Silver Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 16-Apr XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Danao + GOLD Bradley Weiss / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Cyprus * Silver Yeray Luxem / Brigitta Poor 29-Apr XTERRA Langkawi + GOLD Osborne,Allen,Weiss,McPherson/Wasle 30-Apr XTERRA Greece * Silver Ruben Ruzafa, Helena Erbenova 6-May XTERRA Tahiti + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 13-May XTERRA Brazil # Silver Felipe Moletta / Sabrina Gobbo 14-May XTERRA Spain * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 20-May XTERRA Oak Mountain # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 27-May XTERRA Portugal * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Brigitta Poor 10-Jun XTERRA Belgium * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 17-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter ^ Karsten Madsen / Heather Pady 18-Jun XTERRA Finland * Silver Pavel Andreev / Louise Fox 24-Jun XTERRA Switzerland * GOLD Arthur Forissier / Michelle Flipo 2-Jul XTERRA France * GOLD Ruben Ruzafa / Laura Philipp 9-Jul XTERRA Victoria # Silver Karsten Madsen / Suzie Snyder 15-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek # GOLD Beaver Creek, CO, USA 30-Jul XTERRA Abruzzo * Silver Scanno, Abruzzo, Italy 5-Aug XTERRA Mexico # GOLD Tapalpa 5-Aug XTERRA Norway * Silver Norefjell 6-Aug XTERRA Canmore ^ Canmore, Alberta, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Quebec ^ Quebec City, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Parry Sound ^ Ontario, Canada 13-Aug XTERRA Dominican Republic # Silver Barahona 13-Aug XTERRA Poland * Silver Krakow 19-Aug XTERRA Germany * GOLD Zittau 26-Aug XTERRA Sleeping Giant ^ Thunder Bay, ON, Canada 2-Sep XTERRA Japan + Silver Hokkaido 3-Sep XTERRA European Championship (DEN) * GOLD Mons Klint 16-Sep XTERRA Pan Am Championship / USA # D-GOLD Ogden, Utah, USA 29-Oct XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

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