Allen, Erbanova win XTERRA Germany

Ben Allen of Australia and Helena Erbenova of the Czech Republic captured the 13th edition of the XTERRA Germany Championship in Zittau today, whilst GB’s Jacqui Slack was best placed Brit in second.

It’s the second week in a row those two have been on the top step. Last week they both won the XTERRA Czech Championship.

The men’s race came down to an epic stride-for-stride battle between Allen and Bradley Weiss from South Africa. Here is how Allen explained it…

“Rough swim for me this time round. I exited fourth behind Christian Otto, Jens Roth & Roger Serrano. I’m normally the one being chased, but this time I was doing the chasing. I caught Roger on the first long climb in the forest and then a couple of minutes later Otto. Roth was further away setting a solid pace. Francois (Carloni) caught me at the top of the long climb and we worked together to hunt down Roth. Before reaching Roth, Brad (Weiss) joined our pursuit and the three of us managed to drop Roth on the last steep climb. Me, Francois & Weiss came into T2 altogether but I managed to have a speedy transition and exit first just ahead of the other guys. Brad ran up alongside me and we ran shoulder to shoulder, breathing down each other’s necks, nether one of us giving each other an inch! Brad surged a couple of times and I surged a couple each times, neither of us wanted to say die! It was like Mark Allen and Dave Scott battling it out in Kona! Brad put in one last surge about 1km from the finish line on the flat section and I was able to respond, before I attacked on the last hill with 500m to go and the elastic band broke for Brad. It was a race neither of us will forget for a long time, both laying it on the line and giving 100%. It was an epic battle and although I was first across the line. I believe after that race we are both worthy winners! Let’s do it again sometime Brad, pleasure going toe to toe with you!”

Weiss was equally enthusiastic of the experience, saying “Wild race. So stoked I could be a part of that one! Went right down to the line. Ben and I were very evenly matched, I gave him everything I had. He showed his class and stayed composed right till the end. Learnt a few lessons out there from a seasoned athlete. Couple Germans took an early lead in the swim but after the main climb on the bike it was just myself Ben and Carloni left up front. We shared the lead and kept the pace honest up front. Once onto the run Ben took an early lead with a slick T2 but after a k or so I closed the gap. We ran toe to toe from them on. I made a few efforts to get away but Ben hung tough and made his sprint for the line count. Loved every minute out there. I will be back next year to try and climb one step higher.”

Roger Serrano ran his way into third, his seventh top three finish on the European Tour this season, with Carloni right behind in fourth and the German Jens Roth in fifth.

In the women’s race Erbenova was more than three minutes behind Jacqui Slack, two minutes back of Brigitta Poor, and one-minute back of Carina Wasle coming out of the water but erased all those deficits with the fastest bike and run splits of the day.

It’s the fourth win in a row on the XTERRA European Tour for Erbenova and her sixth title this year.
Slack held on for second, with Brigitta Poor in third, Carina Wasle in fourth, and Lenka Cibulkova rounding out the top five.

Complete Results / Photos available soon at https://www.facebook.com/xterraeurope
Men

Pl Name Time
1 Ben Allen, AUS 2:25:36
2 Brad Weiss, RSA 2:25:37
3 Roger Serrano, ESP 2:28:28
4 Francois Carloni, FRA 2:28:55
5 Jens Roth, GER 2:29:50
6 Tomak Kubek, SVK 2:31:04
7 Nicolas Fernandez, FRA 2:32:53
8 Pavel Andreev, RUS 2:33:11
9 Christian Otto, GER 2:33:36
10 Albert Soley, ESP 2:34:10
Also: Jan Pyott (41), Markus Benesch (37), Veit Honle (34), Vaclav Holub (31), Theo Blignaut (28), Dominik Wychera, Krzysztof Kokot, Martial Schmidt

Women
Pl Name Time
1 Helena Erbenova, CZE 2:51:58
2 Jacqui Slack, GBR 2:52:24
3 Brigitta Poor, HUN 2:53:27
4 Carina Wasle, AUT 2:54:36
5 Lenka Cibulkova, CZE 3:06:24
6 Corinna Choun, AUT 3:15:20
7 Emilie Lefur, FRA 3:57:49