Allen, Slack win XTERRA Malaysia

Langkawi, Malaysia – Ben Allen and Jacqui Slack captured the third annual XTERRA Malaysia on a day that lived up to the event’s pre-race billing as The Hottest Weekend on the XTERRA World Tour circuit.

Temperatures quickly peaked to around 90F (32C) as the morning sun rose over the Gunung Macincang mountains. With humidity near 83% Mother Nature was, without a doubt, the toughest competitor facing every racer today.

Allen looking to reclaim the XTERRA Malaysia title he first won in 2014 faced a deep pro field which included reigning XTERRA Asian Tour Champ Bradley Weiss of South Africa, top contenders on the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Takahiro Ogasawara of Japan, Brody Gardner from Australia, Kaon Cho from Korea and Olly Shaw from New Zealand.

However, after putting a two minute gap between him and the rest of the field during the swim Allen left little doubt, barring a mechanical or a crash, who’s day it was meant to be. Setting a blistering pace on the bike and run Allen raced alone to finish 2:55:42 nearly ten minutes ahead of Weiss and 15 minutes ahead of third place finisher Fabrizio Bartoli of Italy.

“As always, I was just trying to play to my strengths. Coming from a swimming background I was just trying to nail the swim. I knew if I was able to do that and get a good lead I could then find that flow out on the trail.” said Allen. “I just felt like I was in the zone the whole time. I had a couple of crashes but I just tried to dust myself off and keep riding hard and pushing the pace.”

“The course out there is so gnarly. I’m just really happy to be on the top step and to win here today is a really awesome effort.” he added.

For Bradley Weiss, who valiently held on to the second spot, it was another disappointing day.

“My form over the last few weeks has been on the decline a little bit.” said Weiss. “I took a pretty aggressive racing schedule with lots of travel and it slowly has started to take its toll on my body.”

“Ben has really stepped up his game.” he added. “He’s showed that his form is really, really good and he capitalized on that today.”

Jacqui Slack

JACQUI THE JET

Not to be out-done by her fiancé Jacqui Slack exited the swim up two minutes on 2016 APAC Tour starlet Lizzie Orchard with Austrian Carina Wasle and last year’s winner Myriam Guillot-Boisset of France close behind.

Slack’s skills on a mountain bike held true today as she bombed the steep, technical downhill sections while putting the hammer down in the flats to build enough of a gap she could hold on and keep pace on the run.

“I had no idea how much of a lead I actually had. When you’re in the lead you have to keep pushing as hard as you can.” she said. “The last few races the girls have passed me on the run so it was just a matter of fighting to the finish.”

Orchard for her effort walked away with the 2015-16 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Title and her share of the $10,000USD prize bonus.

Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Ben Allen, AUS 2:55:42 200 2 Bradley Weiss, RSA 3:06:02 180 3 Fabrizio Bartoli, ITA 3:10:27 164 4 Takahiro Ogasawara, JPN 3:13:30 150 5 Brodie Gardner, AUS 3:17:54 138 6 David Escolar Ballesteros, ESP 3:18:29 126 7 Joe Miller, PHI 3:24:20 116 8 Olly Shaw, NZL 3:28:48 106 9 Jason Hsieh, HKG 3:42:08 98 10 Shahrom Abdullah, MAS 3:44:39 90 Also: Kaon Cho (82) Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Jacqui Slack, GBR 3:28:28 200 2 Lizzie Orchard, NZL 3:35:05 180 3 Carina Wasle, AUT 3:41:25 164 3 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA 3:41:25 150

Photos / Complete Results

Lewis Ryan

LEWIS RYAN OVERALL  AMATEUR XTERRA MALAYSIA CHAMP

The young-gun from Rotorua is another name to remember in a long list of fast XTERRA athletes from New Zealand. He’s made a name for himself this year on the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Tour while under the tutelage of fellow Kiwi and XTERRA Pro Olly Shaw.

Ryan has collected two second place finishes at XTERRA New Zealand and XTERRA New South Wales and picked up his first tour win today. Those combined efforts awarded him the overall XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour 15-19 divisional title tonight. It’s safe to say his future is as bright as those award stage lights.

Lizzie Orchard

ALLEN, ORCHARD TAKE HOME TOUR TITLES

XTERRA Malaysia was the final stop on the 2015-16 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Tour.

The top 15 amateur, Asian-elite, and professional racers at each event earn series points, with double points being offered at the finale in Malaysia.

Racers count their best three scores to determine champions in each division.

The XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour awards a prize bonus of $10,000 USD to the top five pro men and women in the final standings ($2,000 for 1st, $1,500-2nd, $800-3rd, $400-4th, $300-5th).

The 2016-17 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour season will begin anew at XTERRA Tahiti (May 14, 2016), then continue at XTERRA?Korea with an amateur-only race (no pro prize money or pro points) on August 27, 2016 in Daeahn Reservoir, followed by XTERRA?Japan in Hokkaido on September 3, 2016.

Here’s a look at the final elite standings:

PL NAME JPN PHI SAI NZL AUS MAS TOT 1 Ben Allen, AUS DNS 90 DNS DNS 82 200 372 2 Bradley Weiss, RSA DNS 100 DNS 82 x69 180 362 3 Takahiro Ogasawara, JPN 82 x75 90 DNS DNS 150 322 4 Brodie Gardner, AUS DNS 82 100 DNS x49 138 320 5 Joe Miller, PHI DNS 53 82 DNS DNS 116 251 6 Olly Shaw, NZL DNS DNS DNS 75 63 106 244 7 Kaon Cho, KOR 53 DNS 75 x49 x28 82 210 8 Braden Currie, NZL DNS DNS DNS 100 100 DNS 200 9 Jason Hsieh , HKG 58 DNS DNS DNS 34 98 190 10 Sam Osborne, NZL DNS DNS DNS 90 90 DNS 180 11 Courtney Atkinson, AUS 100 DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 175 12 Fabrizio Bartoli, ITA DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 164 164 13 Charlie Epperson, USA 75 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS 144 14 David Escolar Ballesteros, ESP DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 126 126 15 Kieran McPherson, NZL DNS DNS DNS 69 53 DNS 122 16 Cameron Oneal, USA 63 58 DNS DNS DNS DNS 121 17 Cameron Paul, NZL DNS DNS DNS 63 45 DNS 108 18 Alex Roberts, NZL DNS DNS DNS 58 41 DNS 99 19 Cedric Lassonde, FRA 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 20 Shahrom Abdullah, MAS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 90 21 Barry Lee, MAS DNS 49 DNS DNS 31 DNF 80 22 Taro Shirato, JPN 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 23 Michal Bucek, SVK DNS 63 DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 24 Aiden Dunster, NZL DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 DNS 58 25 Lachlan Davey, NZL DNS DNS DNS 53 DNS DNS 53 26 Kiley Momohara, NZL DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS 45 27 Noah Wright, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 37 PL NAME JPN PHI SAI NZL AUS MAS TOT 1 Lizzie Orchard, NZL x90 x100 DNS 100 100 180 380 2 Jacqui Slack, GBR DNS 90 DNS DNS 82 200 372 3 Carina Wasle, AUT DNS DNS 100 DNS 90 164 354 4 Mieko Carey, USA 100 82 90 DNS DNS DNS 272 5 Renata Bucher, SUI DNS DNS 82 DNS 75 DNS 157 6 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 150 150 7 Sarah Backler, NZL DNS DNS DNS 90 58 DNS 148 8 Rachel Challis, NZL DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS DNS 82 9 Belinda Hadden, AUS DNS DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS 75 10 Mary Gray, NZL DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS DNS 75 11 Jessica Simpson, AUS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 DNS 69 12 Catherine Sterling, USA DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 DNS 63 13 Penny Hosken, AUS DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 DNS 53 14 Holly Khan, AUS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS 49

Learn more about the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour and View Final Amateur Tour Standings.

2016 XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

The XTERRA Malaysia Championship was the 11th of 37 events where the fastest amateur athletes from around the world could qualify to race at the 21st annual XTERRA World Championship at Kapalua, Maui on Oct 23.

DATE WORLD TOUR EVENT LOCATION or WINNERS
7-Feb XTERRA Philippines Brad Weiss/Lizzie Orchard 21-Feb XTERRA South Africa Brad Weiss/Flora Duffy 5-Mar XTERRA Motatapu Olly Shaw/Mary Gray 12-Mar XTERRA Saipan Brodie Gardner/Carina Wasle 20-Mar XTERRA Costa Rica Karl Shaw/Myriam Guillot-Boisset 26-Mar XTERRA Argentina Josiah Middaugh/Myriam Guillot-Boisset 3-Apr XTERRA Malta Roger Serrano/Brigitta Poor 16-Apr XTERRA New Zealand Braden Currie/Lizzie Orchard 17-Apr XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa/Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Braden Currie/Lizzie Orchard 7-May XTERRA Malaysia / XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Championship Ben Allen/Jacqui Slack 7-May XTERRA Brazil Ilhabela, São Paulo 7-May XTERRA Greece Vouliagmeni 14-May XTERRA Tahiti Papeete 21-May XTERRA Oak Mountain State Park Pelham, Shelby County, AL, USA 21-May XTERRA Portugal Golega 11-Jun XTERRA Belgium Namur 25-Jun XTERRA Switzerland Vallee de Joux 25-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter Milton, Ontario, Canada 3-Jul XTERRA France Xonrupt 10-Jul XTERRA Victoria Victoria, B.C., Canada 16-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek Beaver Creek, CO, USA 23-Jul XTERRA Parry Sound Ontario, Canada 31-Jul XTERRA Italy Lago Di Scanno 31-Jul XTERRA Dominican Republic Barahona 6-Aug XTERRA Mexico Tapalpa 7-Aug XTERRA Poland Krakow 13-Aug XTERRA Sweden Hellsgaarten, Stockholm 14-Aug XTERRA Canmore Canmore, Alberta, Canada 20-Aug XTERRA Germany – XTERRA European Championship Zittau 27-Aug XTERRA Sleeping Giant Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 27-Aug XTERRA Korea Daeahn Reservoir, Wonju City 3-Sep  XTERRA Japan Hokkaido 4-Sep XTERRA Denmark Mons Klint 4-Sep XTERRA Quebec Quebec City, Quebec 11-Sep XTERRA Woolastook New Brunswick, Canada 17-Sep XTERRA USA / Pan Am Championship Ogden, Utah, USA 23-Oct XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui

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