Tough luck for Stoltz in XTerra, Richmond, VA, USA

(report from www.xterraplanet.com)

Father’s Day couldn’t have gone any better for Josiah Middaugh from Vail, Colorado as the 29-year-old turned in a brilliant bike and gutsy run to chase down South African Dan Hugo in the last mile to become the first American since Michael Tobin in 2000 to win the XTERRA East Championship on the epic trails of the James River Park System in Richmond today.

Middaugh, with a winning time of 2:02:51 – just 24-seconds ahead of Hugo, has been the top American in the XTERRA U.S. Pro Series for three of the last four years but this is just his second XTERRA championship race victory, and first since winning the Mountain crown in 2004.

“This one is for all the Father’s out there,” said Middaugh, who has two and four-year-old boys, to an appreciative crowd at the awards ceremony.

Overnight showers and early morning cloud cover created ideal racing conditions and a fast course with temperatures in the mid 80’s compared to the high 90’s just yesterday.

The short swim across the James River was predictably unpredictable with shallow water that was just knee deep at some points so racers could dolphin dive sections in the middle of the James.  Craig Evans was first out of the water but after a quarter-mile run to the swim-to-bike transition Hugo was first out on the bike just 14 minutes after the race started.  Hugo’s lead lasted just seconds, however, as Conrad Stoltz powered past him and started building a huge gap on the rest of the field.

This bike course is renowned for having some of the most technical trails in XTERRA and nobody handles the tricky stuff better than Stoltz – and through the first third of the course he’d already put a minute-thirty on Hugo and Evans.  But what was shaping up to be a great race for 2nd place turned into the winner’s dual when Stoltz, winner of the last three East Championship titles, punctured his back tire.

“Went too fast and got a small cut in my bike tire,” said Stoltz, who was able to overcome a flat in Alabama last week to win the Southeast Championship.  “I tried to fix it and my CO2 didn’t work, then Rom (Akerson) gave me his CO2 but by the time I got going again I was several minutes and 15 or so riders back.”

Knowing he could drop this race in the Pro Series and make up for it in Ogden at the Mountain Champs, and in order to save his strength for the next three consecutive XTERRA championship races in the United Kingdom (June 21), Czech Republic (June 28), and France (July 6), Stoltz called it a day.

“It's too bad because this is my favorite race, and I love this run. I really enjoy Richmond because there are spectators in the middle of the forest and they yell your name and cheer for you and it really energizes you.  I felt really good too, so it’s disappointing,” said Stoltz.

Stoltz’ loss was seemingly Hugo’s gain, as the young up-and-comer took advantage of a similar situation when his mentor flatted to win the XTERRA South Africa Championship back in April.   Towards the very end of the bike Hugo was one-minute 15 seconds ahead of a chase pack led by Middaugh that included Tyler Johnson and Craig Evans.

“Tyler was on my wheel the whole race and he rode great so we moved through the field together,” said Middaugh, who came out of the water with Johnson about a minute-20 after the leaders and together they passed the 11 pros ahead of them (including a tire-fixing Stoltz) to join Evans behind Hugo.  Johnson had the fastest bike split at 1:10:01 and Middaugh had the second-best split in 1:10:04.

“I’d really like to thank Conrad for letting someone else win,” laughed Middaugh.  “It was sad to see him out there with a flat but nice to have a race for first rather than a race for 2nd for a change.”

Heading into the run Hugo had about a minute-30 on Johnson and Middaugh, and Johnson was thinking this could be his day.

“I just went out way too hard and hit the wall,” said Johnson, who literally hit the wall a couple miles into the run when he reached the famous 80-foot vertical climb up old wood railroad ties dubbed the “Mayan Ruins” – which looks just as gnarly as a 2000-year-old temple.

Middaugh, on the other hand, was calm and collected.  “Tyler was just gone, he went out so fast but I had to just get my breathing under control and work out some cramps,” he said.

Just after the big climb Middaugh took the lead and started making ground on Hugo, but it wasn’t until the final mile that he made his move.

“When Josiah passed me I was already giving it all I had so there was nothing I could do,” said Hugo.  ‘When I realized it was him I just asked who was behind and he was kind enough to tell me I had some room.”

Hugo crossed the line just 24 seconds later in 2nd place for his third consecutive runner-up performance this year.  Johnson was another 27 seconds back in third, his best showing in years and third top five in Richmond.

Andrew Noble had his best race of the season and chased down Ryan DeCook, Kelly Guest, and Craig Evans to move from 7th to 4th.  Evans went into transition in 4th and held off everyone but Noble for 5th.

Ryan Ignatz had his best race of the season by posting the fastest run of the day (36:29) to move into 6th, and also of note was the young Ryan DeCook, who had the fifth-best bike split and went out in the run in 5th before a bunch of really fast runners chased him down and left him in 10th (Still his best outing as a pro).  Rom Akerson from Costa Rica continued to be consistent with his third consecutive top seven finish.

Conrad's Report:

With 2 XTERRA USA Series victories so far, I was eager to beat the rush and wrap up the USA points series early. (best 3 out of 4 Series race to count towards Series. Plus compulsory Tahoe Nationals)

Richmond’s intense and technical course is notorious to be my favorite stomping grounds.* With 3 weeks of much needed quality training at altitude in the bag since Temecula, I was ready for my 5 week, 5 race quest to win the XTERRA USA and XTERRA Europe titles.

As usual, the James River swim was quite an adventure- we ran across an island, dealt with currents, crawled across some shallow rocks and zig zagged in the “deep end” to make up about 1000m of “swimming.”

Dan Hugo, Craig Evans and myself came out the water together. Once on the bike, I put it in the biggest gear and poured on the power.

This bike course is known for its amazing single track. In fact, I guess about 24k of the 30k bike is 1st class single track. To sort out the riders and give the race time to spread out, the 1st few miles has quite a bit of open gravel road, with 2 sections of tight, twisty stuff. Knowing the guys behind me would probably team up and work together, I tried to get a gauge of my progress after the 1st section through Belle Isle. I kept looking back expecting to see them in the open, but by the time I turned into the 2nd twisty section by the old Civil War prison, I still couldn’t see them. It was barely 5 minutes into the bike leg? Maybe someone went down in the forest and they tangled with each other?

I had obviously recovered well from previous week’s huge effort and dehydration at XTERRA Alabama. My legs felt great, my back felt great, (Amber poked it with her elbow a couple of times last week) and I knew today I was going to blow the barn doors off.

I got to the 3 flights of stairs over the rail road, shouldered my bike and started bounding. Every time I ran a level I expected to see riders approach, hear brakes squeal and cleats clacking up the stairs, but nothing.

The real single track beckoned. This is where the game really starts. I dove into the lush green tunnel and everything became a blur.

I know this course inside out. Over the past 7 years I have made a study of this course. Pre riding it over and over (4 or 5 times before each race) memorizing fast lines, brake points etc. In places I remember noisy crowds and I had glimpses of people taking splits- faces stark, watches at the ready. (Another thing that really sucks about leading on the course is you don’t get splits**)

At about 12k I did “this thing” I always do in “that place” and unbelievably- that familiar fffft ffft fft. I was dumbstruck. I tried to fix it but the fixing went really bad. (Later I noticed the Big Air had what looked like red bits of plastic obstructing the small little hole the air was supposed to go through. In the struggle (and mystery) of the air not really wanting to come out of the canister*** I managed to break the valve core out of the valve stem. By then I was minutes back. (A lot more than the 3, from which I came back to win last week)

My fellow competitors were awesome. Many pros offered spares, even though the single track was tight a couple tried to drop a CO2. Rom Akerson from Costa Rica unselfishly jettisoned his whole spare kit and still finished 7th. Gracias Rom.

Usually I would finish no matter what, but I have 3 races in Europe in the next 3 weeks, and with XTERRA Ogden in August another chance to score points, I decided to pull the plug.

I was bummed. Was going so well. Just about had the series tied up. Such a fun and unique race. Zero prize money, and bonuses. Also, I was on a 9 race, 18 month winning streak.

So I taught the forest some Afrikaans. Got it over with and put it behind me, rode around on the run course supporting Amber, watching Melanie take them to the cleaners on her new dual suspension bike. (Mel, I told you. Once you go dual, you never go back!) Also exciting was watching Jenny Smith and Shonny Vanlandingham sprint for 2nd from about 1km out.

Josiah Middaugh won Teva Games last week, and in Richmond he put it all together, running Dan Hugo down in the last km. Exciting racing.

The puncture issue. Everyone wants to talk about it. I really dont, but I should. Just to clear the air.

- No, despite speculation, I dont ride like a Caveman. Sure, I can push 400-500 watts**** with my 182lbs behind it, through the tight, twisty forest trails, while holding the bike upright, and balancing myself on top of it. BUT, its probably not a great idea on 500g tires with paper thin sidewalls meant for skinny little XC racers on pretty XC courses.

- Yes, I always ride a tubeless set-up. Like I always ride it: 1.5 cups of Stans per tire, 30psi front and rear- checked just before the swim start to allow for temp (and psi) change. Suspension super plush, racing tires never older than about 10 hrs of hard riding.

- And finally. No, there is nothing wrong with Specialized tires. In fact, I wouldn’t ride anything else. BUT, because of “logistical” issues, I only had S-works tires to choose from. ( I rode The Captain S-Works in the front (corners great in the loose stuff) and Fast Trak LK in the rear.(Its the only tire I had left, but usually I choose the Fast Trak LK if the course is hard pack)

How to chose tires:

Tread pattern: I switch between 2 Specialized dry condition tires: The Fast Trak LK (Low Knob) is a fast rolling tire for hard pack courses and The Captain for looser terrain. It rolls a bit slower, but it has chunky cornering knobs which makes leaning in loose corners a lot more comforting. (see links below)

Casing: Specialized makes 4 kinds of tire casings to cater for terrain.

- S-Works. Its light, (about 510g for the Fast Trak LK S-works) its supple, its the fastest casing. Christoph Sauser loves this one. (In fact Susi loves everything light) BUT, this tire on the back wheel is not for “Caveman Style”.

- Control. Its only 20g more, but the casing is stronger, (lower tpi count) and obviously less flexible. Fast Trak LK Control. This is the tire I would ride in the rear at most races.

- Armadillo Elite. Its very robust, but the weight is still quite reasonable. Its 670g. I ride this in Maui- infamous for the huge thorns and lava rock.

- Armadillo. This thing is bomb proof. 760g. The tire stands upright by itself. Ride it through a 6 inch nail factory.

If you really want to read about the incidents:

The puncture at XTERRA South Africa was on a 29er- at the time no “Control” or “Armadillo Elite” tires were available for the big rollers. I took a calculated risk at a “warm-up” race. I repaired and finished 6th.

The puncture in Bama last week was an S-works tire (the only casing choice I had at the time) and judging that the foreign object cut right through the knob and the casing on an easy part of the course, I’ll go with Mike Vines’ verdict- there is something sharp embedded in the trail there. He flatted in the same spot last year. I repaired and won.

The puncture in Richmond this weekend was also on an S-works tire, as the much awaited shipment of tires failed to show up. I thought I rode within the limits of the tire, and I didn’t take chances through the technical as I obviously had the horsepower to do the job on the open sections, but apparently I’m just too much Monkey for that particular casing.

The upcoming races I will have the right tires. The horsepower will be there and I can promise you, the hunger is banging the door down…

*XTERRA Richmond 2001 was also my 1st XTERRA experience.- I fell in love right away.

** Other things that suck about leading on the course are: (not referring to any person or any type of triathlon in particular)

- Water point volunteers sitting in the truck, listening to the radio.

- Water point volunteers chatting to the chicks on the sidelines.

- Water point dudes watching the rock climbing and then having to sprint me to the aid station. (Actual event)

- The photographer still in the press truck as you fly through the “money shot spot”.

*** In hind sight, the CO2 being blocked is what happened at Worlds in 03.

**** Averaged 425 Watts for 20km last time lab tested.