Hugo, Wasle win XTERRA South Africa

Dan Hugo and Carina Wasle won the eighth running of XTERRA South Africa Championship Saturday at the rugged Grabouw Country Club course in the Western Province.

Hugo, 25, whose home town of Stellenbosch is but an hour away from the course, won for the third time in four years by a 3-minutes 52-seconds margin over runner-up Kent Horner. Hugo, who picked up his first XTERRA World Tour win at Grabouw in 2008, defended his South Africa title and now has six XTERRA wins including XTERRA Mexico and XTERRA Brazil in 2010 and the XTERRA Northwest Cup in Idaho in 2009.

Hugo's most formidable adversary, four-time XTERRA World Champion Conrad Stoltz, a fellow Stellenbosch native, pulled out early due to a lingering bout with bronchitis.

Hugo reveled after his dominant win. "I had a good swim ahead of Conrad Stoltz, Hugo told XTERRA media. "I pushed hard, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before Conrad closed in. I was saddened by the news of Conrad having to withdraw, but that's the nature of the sport. I no longer had to push myself to the limit and just maintained a steady pace. Being welcomed home by the largest crowed that XTERRA Grabouw has ever had was a memorable experience."

In the women's race, Austrian Carina Wasle took her second victory in three years at XTERRA South Africa, marking her seventh XTERRA Championship win since her first victory at XTERRA Germany in 2005.

Wasle took the lead in the first 5km of thge 25km mountain bike course and held on for a 3-minutes, 12-seconds margin of victory over runner-up Michelle Lombardi of South Africa.

“I had a very good race today," Wasle told XTERRA Media. "After a great swim, I exited the water second behind Carla van Huyssteen and managed to catch her within the first 5km of the mountain bike. I kept a steady pace and led until the finish. I enjoyed the run as it included a lot of up-hill. XTERRA Grabouw is one of my favorite events as it features extremely beautiful landscapes and the people are really friendly."

XTERRA South Africa World Tour
Grabouw, South Africa
February 26, 2011
S 1.5k / MTB 25k / TR 10k

Results

Men

1. Dan Hugo (RSA) 2:15:30
2. Kent Horner (RSA) 2:19:22
3. Nico Pfitzenmaier (GER) 2:22:13
4. Lieuwe Boonstra (RSA) 2:26:31
5. Justin Porteous (RSA) 2:26:34

Women

1. Carina Wasle (AUT) 2:41:47
2. Michelle Lombardi (RSA) 2:44:59
3. Carla Van Huyssteen (RSA) 2:46:55
4. Susan Sloan (RSA) 2:50:57
5. Tanya Ratie (RSA) 3:05:53