Colorado’s Duffy Wins XTERRA Worlds, Middaugh Second, Full Colorado Results
Flora Duffy wins XTERRA World Championship (photo XTERRAplanet.com)

Colorado’s Duffy Wins XTERRA Worlds, Middaugh Second, Full Colorado Results

October 26, 2014 (Maui, HI) — It was only a little more than a year ago when Flora Duffy finished out of the top five at the XTERRA Mountain Championship and told herself, “never again.”

There was an again, fortunately, at Maui last year where she surprised herself with a 3rd-place finish. After that she went to South Africa – where XTERRA roars – and honed her skills in the craft of mountain biking and the results were remarkable. Combine the fitness she already possessed with some mad skills and Duffy turned into a dominant racer. She won everything except XTERRA Germany, and by big margins.

Flora Duffy wins XTERRA World Championship
Flora Duffy wins XTERRA World Championship

Nothing could stop her today, not a mechanical, not even a wicked crash that sent her flying into the bushes and ripped holes in her racing kit.

“I crashed so hard, I literally don’t know how I got back on my bike,” said Duffy. “You know how it’s a steep gnarly descent, I hit a root awkwardly and just flew into the trees head first with the bike on top of me. I was lucky I landed in the bushes. Then, five minutes later I had a mechanical. It was a hard day out there.”

It was even harder for all the elite women trying to keep up with Duffy. Last year’s women’s winner Nicky Samuels did her best, but said she lacked the fitness after her break from ITU racing.

“I had a break after the ITU season so I think third is about where my fitness is, and to hold on to third place was good enough for me,” said Samuels. “Flora probably pulled away at the 1k or 2k mark on the bike, so really soon. And I think she was pulling the same ground going down, so huge difference in her bike fitness and mine. Barbara (Riveros) passed me on the last descent and then pulled away.”

In the men’s race, XTERRA icon Josiah Middaugh fought a hard battle against eventual winner Ruben Ruzafa. Here are a some of Middaugh’s thoughts on the day:

“You know, it feels good because I did everything that I could do today. I feel like I pulled out all my stops in my training and I put together the perfect race for me. You can’t control what other people do. Ruben was stronger today and I feel like I had the best race I’ve ever had here.

“Ruben was unbelievably tough. He had a little over two minutes going into the run, and I knew if I had a chance I would have to take a minute in the first half of the run. I tried as hard as I could to take it back but he was climbing just as fast as I was climbing and I was going for it, so yeah, he was super strong. I run downhill faster than he does and I knew I could make up a minute but I was just too far back.”

Top 10 Women

Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Flora Duffy 27 Devonshire, Bermuda 2:47:59 $20,000
2 Barbara Riveros 27 Wollongong, Chile 2:50:04 $12,000
3 Nicky Samuels 31 Wanaka, New Zealand 2:56:31 $7,000
4 Emma Garrad 33 Park City, Utah 2:56:54 $4,000
5 Helena Erbenova 35 Jablonec Nad Nisou, Czech Republic 2:57:56 $2,500
6 Suzie Snyder 32 Fredericksburg, Virginia 2:59:53 $1,500
7 Charlotte McShane 34 Mount Taylor, Australia 3:02:59 $1,000
8 Melanie McQuaid 41 Victoria, Canada 3:03:17 $800
9 Jacqui Slack 31 Stoke On Trent, Great Britain 3:03:45 $600
10 Carina Wasle 30 Kundl, Austria 3:04:54 $500

Top 10 Men

Pl Name Age Hometown Final Time Purse
1 Ruben Ruzafa 30 Malaga, Spain 2:29:56 $20,000
2 Josiah Middaugh 36 Vial, Colorado 2:31:11 $12,000
3 Ben Allen 29 North Wollongong, Australia 2:34:50 $7,000
4 Dan Hugo 29 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:36:28 $4,000
5 Mauricio Mendez 19 Mexico City, Mexico 2:38:55 $2,500
6 Bart Aernouts 30 Merksem, Belgium 2:38:56 $1,500
7 Conrad Stoltz 41 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:38:57 $1,000
8 Michael Weiss 33 Gumpoldskirchen, Austria 2:39:06 $800
9 Rom Akerson 30 Paquera, Costa Rica 2:39:40 $600
10 Bradley Weiss 25 Stellenbosch, South Africa 2:40:09 $500

Colorado Results

First Last City Gender Age Division Time
Josiah Middaugh VAIL M 36 PR 2:31:11
Dan Hugo STELLENBOSCH RSA and BOULDER M 29 PR 2:36:28
Ryan Ignatz BOULDER M 36 PR 2:43:49
Flora Duffy DEVONSHIRE BER and BOULDER F 27 PR 2:47:59
Brad Zoller AVON M 37 PR 2:49:25
Cody Waite LAKEWOOD M 36 PR 2:50:24
Ryan Petry BOULDER M 23 PR 2:53:27
Branden Rakita COLORADO SPRINGS M 33 PR 2:56:16
Brett Tack BOULDER M 30 30 2:56:29
Kristofer Ochs VAIL M 26 25 3:01:07
Patrick Brown BOULDER M 43 40 3:04:08
Rife Hilgartner AVON M 45 45 3:07:46
Dennis Farrell LITTLETON M 52 50 3:11:00
Joshua Merrick ALAMOSA M 33 PR 3:13:58
Eric Snowberg GOLDEN M 44 40 3:15:07
Shonny Vanlandingham DURANGO F 45 PR 3:16:18
Maia Ignatz BOULDER F 34 PR 3:17:54
Sara Schuler BOULDER F 33 PR 3:20:23
Kevin Egan EVERGREEN M 45 45 3:21:40
Tony Tousley GOLDEN M 42 40 3:26:12
Brian Brown GUNNISON M 37 35 3:32:50
Ashlie Angel DURANGO F 38 35 3:37:11
Mark Piskadlo EVERGREEN M 47 45 3:39:22
Johnny Davis BOULDER M 61 60 3:40:27
Julie Bruckman-Pitrone LITTLETON F 40 40 3:41:19
Jeanine Snyder SUPERIOR F 38 35 3:43:34
Christena Ward DILLON F 40 40 3:44:39
Hadley Nylen STEAMBOAT SPRINGS F 33 30 3:51:36
Sandra Hyra GLENWOOD SPRINGS F 45 45 3:57:44
Erin Johnson DENVER F 38 35 4:02:17
Kelley Hess COLORADO SPRINGS F 31 30 4:03:01
Paula Maresh LITTLETON F 50 50 4:03:39
Martha Buttner BOULDER F 58 55 4:05:10
Mitchell Hyra GLENWOOD SPRINGS M 52 50 4:06:36
Brad Goulding LITTTLETON M 55 55 4:06:51
David Rakita DURANGO M 65 65 4:10:39
Jesse Bolton DENVER M 43 40 4:18:01
Craig Vogtsberger LITTLETON M 40 CH 4:22:11
Susan Petronio CRESTED BUTTE F 51 50 4:23:28
Cindi Toepel LITTLETON F 63 60 4:25:46
Barry Monroe GYPSUM M 46 45 4:32:21
Michael Stone BOULDER M 46 CH 4:33:16
Tim Stegner DENVER M 46 45 4:36:02
Debra Monroe GYPSUM F 46 45 4:42:54
Timothy Wachuta LAKEWOOD M 55 55 4:48:59
Richard Wall COLORADO SPRINGS M 67 65 5:30:12
Libby Harrow FRUITA F 64 60 6:07:08
Wendy Ingraham CASTLE ROCK F 50 50
Chris Phenicie LAKEWOOD M 46 45

Story/photo source: XTERRA Planet