Vanlandingham Crowned XTERRA World Champion

Stoltz is First to Win Four XTERRA World Titles

XTERRA Planet

October 24, 2010 (Makena, Maui) – Conrad Stoltz of South Africa made history and Shonny Vanlandingham of Colorado started history at the 15th Annual XTERRA World Championship off-road triathlon at the Makena Beach & Golf Resort today.

Stoltz, who turned 37 yesterday, dominated the international field of 550 triathletes. He completed the course in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 7 seconds, which was more than five minutes ahead of his closest competition. It was his record fourth victory in the event, which is considered the world championship of off-road triathlons.

Vanlandingham, 41, won her first women’s XTERRA World Championship, completing the course in 2:58:20.

Stoltz and Vanlandingham each received $20,000.

The course consisted of a 1-mile swim off Makena Beach, a 20-mile mountain bike up and down the lower slopes of Haleakala, and a 7-mile trail and beach run.

“I don’t think I could have done a better race today, it was really, really magical,” said Stoltz, whose previous wins came in 2001, 2002 and 2007. “I will treasure this memory forever.”

Franky Batelier of France placed second with a total time of 2:36:14. Michael Weiss of Austria was third, followed by Olivier Marceau of France in fourth, and Nico Lebrun of France in fifth.

Spain’s Eneko Llanos, who won the race last year and was also seeking a fourth XTERRA world title, placed sixth. However, Llanos did win the coveted Hawaiian Airlines Double Award as the best overall performer from the XTERRA World Championship and the Ford Ironman World Championship, which were held two weeks apart.

Vanlandingham took the women’s lead midway through the bike stage; then maintained it during the run.

“Coming into the race, I knew I had to be in the lead after the bike to have a chance,” she said. “I came in about a minute ahead off the bike and I didn’t feel that was very comfortable, but it was enough.”

Great Britain’s Julie Dibens, who was the three-time defending women’s XTERRA World Champion, placed second in 2:59:32. She was the women’s winner of the Hawaiian Airlines Double Award.