NEWS

Conrad Stoltz conquers inaugural ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship

By Paula Kim | 30 Apr, 2011

Conrad Stoltz of South Africa made a triumphant ITU return, claiming the inaugural Cross Triathlon World Championship in Extremadura, Spain today.  American Seth Wealing took silver while Swiss Olivier Marceau came across the finish line for the bronze.

Stoltz, a double Olympian, was back on the ITU circuit for the first since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.  And the South African veteran ensured it was a dominating golden return.

The pre-race hype focused on an anticipated showdown between Stoltz and Spanish favourite Eneko Llanos.  The pair owns a combined seven Xterra world titles between them.  But the battle never really materialized after Llanos crashed on the 20km mountain bike course and fell out of contention for the podium. 

Not surprisingly, British swim powerhouse Richard Stannard led the men out of the 1km swim.  Llanos was just 11 seconds behind Stannard while Stoltz trailed by approximately 90 seconds. 

But it was on the 20km mountain bike course that Stoltz put the race away and out of anyone’s reach.  Scorching the course with the day’s fastest bike split, 3 minutes and 40 seconds faster than any other man in the field, Stoltz built an insurmountable lead.

First onto the 6km cross-country run course, Stoltz stayed in front for good and cruised to the line to break the tape at 1 hour, 26 minutes, 40 seconds to take the title of first ITU Cross Triathlon World Champion.  Stoltz dominated the field, winning by almost a full minute over Wealing who was second across the line to take silver.  Triple Olympian Marceau rounded out the podium, finishing a further two minutes behind Wealing.

American Josiah Middaugh came across in fourth place, followed by British veteran Richard Stannard who finished in fifth place.

Llanos got back on his bike after the crash and pushed on, finishing up in sixth place, tops for the home team. 

Portuguese Olympian Bruno Pais recorded the fastest run split and was the only man to run sub-20:00 to finish in seventh place.

Portugal’s Hugo Ventura was crowned the Under23 World Champion.

The country was also golden in the junior category, as Filipe Azevedo led a gold-silver Portuguese sweep.  Hugo Alves took the silver, finishing comfortably ahead of Spain’s Diego Paz Sobreira who claimed the bronze.

Related Event: 2011 Extremadura ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships
30 Apr, 2011 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Women
1. Melanie Mcquaid CAN 01:43:01
2. Shonny Vanlandingham USA 01:43:24
3. Emma Garrard USA 01:43:43
4. Christine Jeffrey CAN 01:45:22
5. Marion Lorblanchet FRA 01:47:16
6. Zuriñe Rodriguez Sanchez ESP 01:47:34
7. Renata Bucher SUI 01:48:13
8. Adriana Fabiola Corona MEX 01:50:34
9. Susan Sloan RSA 01:51:27
10. Helena Herrero Gomez ESP 01:51:31
Results: Elite Men
1. Conrad Stoltz RSA 01:26:40
2. Seth Wealing USA 01:27:36
3. Olivier Marceau SUI 01:29:42
4. Josiah Middaugh USA 01:30:26
5. Richard Stannard GBR 01:31:04
6. Eneko Llanos Burguera ESP 01:31:28
7. Bruno Pais POR 01:32:11
8. Branden Rakita USA 01:32:13
9. Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales ESP 01:32:46
10. Craig Evans USA 01:34:37
Results: Junior Women
1. Miriam Casillas García ESP 01:01:47
2. Jip Veelenturf NED 01:05:09
3. Judit Saizar Ardanuy ESP 01:05:14
4. Sindija Veinberga LAT 01:12:19
5. Anna Godoy Contreras ESP 01:13:27
6. Camila Alonso Aradas ESP 01:21:00
Results: Junior Men
1. Filipe Azevedo POR 00:50:36
2. Hugo Alves POR 00:50:51
3. Diego Paz Sobreira ESP 00:51:28
4. Jarrich Van Woersem NED 00:51:49
5. Miguel Fernandes POR 00:52:29
6. Filip Lishak SVK 00:54:17
7. Genis Grau ESP 00:54:59
8. David Castro Fajardo ESP 00:55:28
9. Jordi García Gracia ESP 01:00:33
Results: U23 Women
5. Tamara Gomez Garrido ESP 02:11:50
3. Baiba Medne LAT 02:05:10
1. Brigitta Poór HUN 01:53:11
4. Helen Schmidt EST 02:11:46
2. Kairi Schmidt EST 02:01:53
Results: U23 Men
1. Hugo Ventura POR 01:32:35
2. Tim Dullaart NED 01:37:06
3. Mark Threlfall GBR 01:38:07
4. Jozef Tomasovic SVK 01:38:29
5. Vasco Pessoa POR 01:39:55
6. Jorge Naranjo Vichot ESP 01:43:42
7. João Serrano POR 01:44:23
8. Ricardo Hernandez Marrero ESP 01:44:55
9. Jack Grundy GBR 01:46:23
10. Kristaps Plonis LAT 01:55:05