Lance, DeBoom, Caveman to battle
This year's XTERRA USA Championship elite races offer one of the most intriguing clash of triathlon civilizations, a clash that promises some great races between stars of different backgrounds and styles.
While 7-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong seems to be postponing his appointment with the Queen K, the tough as nails Texan is offering tri fans a tasty apertif with his entry in the men's XTERRA contest. While most experts don't give Armstrong any chance of making the Kona podium, Lance is given a serious chance to take the USA title on the trails and steep hills of Ogden. The case for Lance has several parts: Lance raced Leadville twice (and he also won the qualifier for Leadville in 2008). In his first cracvk at Leadville in 2008, it was during his retirement, and he came second. The second time, in 2009, after tacing the Tour de France, he smashed the Leadville race, winning overall and breaking the course record by 15 minutes. He was a top swimmer back in his teenage years as an elite triathlete. And he has run a 2:45 and several sub-three hours marathons. And XTERRA VP and media relations honcho Trey Garman, who may be forgiven for offering some fact-based hype, points out another factor that may favor Armstrong. "The bike course trails in Ogden have been groomed so the nastiest rocks and holes and stumps have been smoothed out," said Garman. "So the uphills and downhills are more a pure horsepower test than before."
Armstrong himself is humble about his XTERRA debut. In an interview with XTERRA media, Armstrong had a few thoughts about tomorrow's battle:
"As much as I would like to think I could win or be a favorite I think it’s irresponsible to think that way. I haven’t done a triathlon in 22 or 23 years, haven’t done a mass start swim like that in just as long. This sport is very different. Just think about starting with hundreds of people in the water, think about the specificity of transitions. My transitions in the last 22 years have been all in the last week playing around in my garage, and I don’t know if that’s good enough. I’ll go out, have fun, push myself as hard as I can, and we’ll see."
The groomed trails, Garman theorizes, take away 4-time XTERRA World Champ Conrad Stoltz's hole card – his fearless, foolhardy fast downhills on the gnarliest terrain. In an article on Sports Illustrated online, SI's expert still thinks Caveman's unparalleled 10-year XTERRA career –peaking this year with several big wins — will trump Lance's horsepower. Still, Caveman is not a sure thing as he was pushed to the max by journeyman Will Kelsay for the win at XTERRA Japan.
These two, however, do not have a monopoly on pre-race speculation. Two-time Ironman World Champion Tim DeBoom, like Armstrong, recently crossing the great life divide into his 40s, is coming off an impressive win at the ultra-brutal Norseman Extreme in Norway and will be in the mix. DeBoom has spent years riding mountain bikes and running on some of Boulder, Colorado's toughest trails and certainly has a decidedly better swim and run capabilities than the Tour dominator whose nom de guerre is Juan Pelota.
Rational speculation does not end with the famous trio. Michael Weiss competed for Austria in mountain biking in the 2004 Olympics. This past year he broke the 8-hour mark while finishing second at Ironman Austria, took 4th at the recent Ironman 70.3 World Championships, and placed 3rd at the 2010 XTERRA World Championships. Weiss , is rested, ready and dangerously talented.
Other proven XTERRA winners could upset the favorites' applecart including Josiah Middaugh of Vail, Colorado, Seth Wealing of Boulder, Colorado and Nicolas Lebrun of Digne, France.
While three-time XTERRA World champion Melanie McQuaid of Canada has a big lead in this year's XTERRRA USA season long points championship, she will be pushed hard by Scotswoman Lesley Paterson of San Diego. Paterson was plagued by ailments early this season, but has been coming back strong into the form that gave her a runner-up finish at the XTERRA World Championship in Maui a few years ago.
A big question mark attends the fortunes of reigning XTERRA World champion Shonny Vanlandingham – another great 40-plus XTERRA competitor.
"I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) five weeks ago, 90 percent off the femur," Vanlandingham told XTERRA media. "I just want to finish this race and don’t have the same expectations I had five weeks ago. But I am an athlete, I love to compete and I am a woman of faith."
Perhaps the greatest living example of athletic faith in the field is 2-time XTERRA World Champ, 5-time XTERRA USA champ and 37-time XTERRA winner Jamie Whitmore, is signed up to compete in the XTERRA Utah short course event. Whitmore's pro career was cut short by cancer which hit her hard in 2007. Thanks to an ingenious new leg brace, she will now resume her athletic career against all odds.
“I have no glute, no hamstring, no calf and cannot move or feel my foot at all, Whitmore told XTERRA media. "The only thing functioning on my left leg is my quad. So this brace I’m going to get is really exciting stuff. It’s the same brace Craig Vogtsberger uses when he races, and should be stiff enough for me to start riding the bike and not have my foot flop while I pedal. I am also having custom orthotics made to help with stability.”
In addition, the legendary one-arm Willie Stewart is returning to XTERRA with a new prosthetic arm which will allow him to ride the tough XTERRA trails.
