Osborne, Allen win XTERRA Tahiti

Moorea, Tahiti – Sam Osborne and Jacqui Allen captured the third-annual XTERRA Tahiti Championship elite titles on a gorgeous afternoon in Moorea on Saturday.

It’s the third win of the season for Osborne and the second for Allen.  They both won at XTERRA New Zealand one-month ago and Osborne captured the season opener in Saipan back in March.

In the men’s race Osborne, Ben Allen, and reigning World Champ Mauricio Mendez were all together out of the swim, however, “Ben and I absolutely laid it down through transition and onto the bike and managed to force a gap on Mauricio,” said Osborne.

Mendez charged back and got in front, but one small slip and he was off his bike and pushing it up a hill when Osborne and Allen attacked again.

“It was just the perfect pedal by him on an uphill to take the lead and Ben stayed on my wheel and we rode really hard for the next 10-minutes or so and nailed the gap,” said Osborne.

Turned out Mendez, at roughly mile five of the bike, broke his derailleur and was done for the day.

“I’m not sure if it was a tree root or a rock that I hit, but it was an unfixable mechanical,” said Mendez.

Neither Osborne nor Allen knew Mendez was done, however, so they kept pouring on the steam.

“It was like a time trial the whole bike,” said Osborne.  “Ben was descending really well today and I wasn’t able to gap him on the bike at all.”

The two rode into transition together but Osborne made a quicker go of it, was first out on to the run, built a 20-second gap by the top of the climb “it was 5K up, and 5K down,” and held on for the win.

“Onto the run, I got a bit of a gap out of transition and got into a good rhythm but on the uphill I started to cramp quite bad and was in damage control to the top,” said Osborne.  “Was a godsend to get to the downhill and let my legs just roll it out.”

Osborne’s winning time was 3:33:49, about one-minute ahead of Allen.

“What an incredible day,” exclaimed Allen.  “I lead out of the water and nailed the first 5km on the bike with Sammy hot on my heels! We had a gap on Mau, and he made a superhuman effort to close it, but Sam attacked and I managed to follow and the elastic band broke for Mau and Sam and I drilled the bike knowing Mau would be hot on our heels come the run. We exited the bike together and it took me a few kilometers before my legs came good but Sam took off from the start. The gap was closing as Sam was hurting from his effort and I could sense I may have a chance, but with little course left to run, Sam took the win and I finished 2nd. The course, people and atmosphere was outstanding! I have loved every minute here and Jacqui and I will definitely be back again next year!”

Christophe Betard from France, who was second here behind Josiah Middaugh last year, took third on the day followed by Tahiti’s own Cedric Wane.

In the women’s race, it was all Jacqui Allen, who was the only elite female in the event.

“What a super location for an XTERRA,” she said.  “It has everything.  Crystal clear waters, mountain bike terrain with short steep climbs, rooty technical sections, fast rocky downhills and tricky creek crossings. The run is much the same and probably one of my favorite run courses on the circuit. I was most impressed with the whole organization of the event from start to finish. The passion shone through all weekend with the event being a massive success, I would highly recommend this as a bucket list race for anyone interested in the Tahitian culture. thanks to Jean-Michel and the crew for making this happen.”

Cedric Tourneur from Tahiti and Mimi Stockton from Michigan won the amateur titles, and 26 amateurs punched qualified to race at the XTERRA World Championship in Maui this October.

More images and video from the event will be available soon on their Facebook page.

Elite Results:

Pos Name, NAT Points Time Prize Money 1 Sam Osborne, NZL 75 2:33:49 $1,200 2 Ben Allen, AUS 67 2:35:05 $900 3 Christophe Betard, FRA 61 2:46:59 $700 4 Cedric Wane, FRA 56 2:49:42 $550 1 Jacqui Allen, GBR 75 3:05:46 $1,200

XTERRA Tahiti was the sixth of seven races on this year’s XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour, and with the win Osborne takes a commanding lead into the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour finale at XTERRA Japan in Hokkaido on September 2.

ASIA-PACIFIC TOUR ELITE STANDINGS
After 6 (As of 5.6.17)

PL NAME, NAT TOT SPN THA NZL PHI MAS TAH 1 Sam Osborne, NZL 402 75 DNS 75 90 87 75 2 Ben Allen, AUS 357 61 67 DNS 75 87 67 3 Kieran McPherson, NZL 300 56 75 DNS 82 87 DNS 4 Bradley Weiss, RSA 254 67 DNS DNS 100 87 DNS 5 Will Kelsay, USA 216 47 47 DNS 69 53 DNS 6 Brodie Gardner, AUS 205 39 61 47 DNS 58 DNS 7 David Ballesteros, ESP 168 DNS 56 43 DNS 69 DNS 8 Joe Miller, PHI 142 30 DNS DNS 63 49 DNS 9 Taylor Charlton, AUS 141 DNS 43 DNS 53 45 DNS 10 Olly Shaw, NZL 109 DNS DNS 51 58 DNS DNS 11 Markus Benesch, AUT 102 51 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 Takahiro Ogasawara, JPN 92 21 30 DNS DNF 41 DNS 13 Alex Roberts, NZL 85 DNS DNS 36 49 DNF DNS 14 Aleksandr Dorovskikh, RUS 72 36 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS 15 Hayden Wilde, NZL 67 DNS DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS 16 Alex Hunt, AUS 63 DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 DNS 17 Akihiko Maeda, JPN 62 25 DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 18 Kyle Smith, NZL 61 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS 19 Christophe Betard, FRA 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 61 20 Fynn Thompson, NZL 56 DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS 21 Cedric Wane, FRA 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 22 Yuichi Hosoda, JPN 43 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 Jacob Storey 39 DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS 24 John Mering, NZL 39 DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS 25 Jacky Boisset, FRA 34 DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 DNS 26 Dominik Wychera, AUT 33 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 Fabrizio Bartoli, ITA 33 DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 Cedric Wane, FRA 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS 29 Emil Duraj, SVK 27 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 30 Michal Bucek, SVK 23 23 DNF DNS DNS DNS DNS PL NAME, NAT TOT SPN THA NZL PHI MAS TAH 1 Carina Wasle, AUT 275 75 DNS DNS 100 100 DNS 2 Jacqui Allen, GBR 232 DNS DNS 75 DNF 82 75 3 Penny Slater, AUS 141 DNS DNS 51 90 DNS DNS 4 Renata Bucher, SUI 131 DNS 75 56 DNS DNS DNS 5 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS 6 Jessica Koltz, USA 82 DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS DNS 7 Leela Hancox, AUS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 8 Kelli Montgomery, USA 67 DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 9 Mieko Carey, JPN 67 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 10 Hannah Wells, NZL 67 DNS DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS 11 Marika Wagner, SWE 61 DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 Josie Wilcox, NZL 61 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS 13 Belinda Hadden, AUS 56 DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 14 Rebecca Clarke, NZL 47 DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS 15 Lizzy Bunckenburg, NZL 43 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS

2017 XTERRA World Championship Qualifying Series Schedule

XTERRA Tahiti was the 15th of 41 events where amateur athletes from around the world could qualify to race at the 22nd annual XTERRA World Championship in Maui on October 29.

Date Race Elite Winners or Location Feb 25 XTERRA South Africa Richard Murray / Flora Duffy Mar 4 XTERRA Motatapu Dougal Allan / Josie Wilcox Mar 18 XTERRA Saipan + Silver Sam Osborne / Carina Wasle Mar 25 XTERRA Argentina # Silver Gonzalo Tellechea / Suzie Snyder Apr 1 XTERRA Thailand + Silver Kieran McPherson / Renata Bucher Apr 1 XTERRA Chile # Silver Felipe Barraza / Barbara Riveros Apr 2 XTERRA Malta * Silver Roger Serrano / Brigitta Poor Apr 8 XTERRA New Zealand + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen Apr 9 XTERRA Costa Rica # Silver Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder Apr 16 XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa / Carina Wasle Apr 23 XTERRA Danao + GOLD Bradley Weiss / Carina Wasle Apr 23 XTERRA Cyprus * Silver Yeray Luxem / Brigitta Poor Apr 29 XTERRA Langkawi + GOLD Osborne,Allen,Weiss,McPherson/Wasle Apr 30 XTERRA Greece * Silver Ruben Ruzafa, Helena Erbenova May 6 XTERRA Tahiti + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen May 14 XTERRA Spain * Silver Taragonna May 14 XTERRA Brazil # Silver Ilhabela, Sao Paolo May 20 XTERRA Oak Mountain # GOLD Pelham, AL, USA May 27 XTERRA Portugal * Silver Golega Jun 10 XTERRA Belgium * Silver Namur Jun 17 XTERRA Mine over Matter ^ Milton, Ontario, Canada Jun 18 XTERRA Finland * Silver Imatra Jun 24 XTERRA Switzerland * GOLD Vallee de Joux Jul 2 XTERRA France * GOLD Xonrupt Jul 9 XTERRA Victoria # Silver Victoria, B.C., Canada Jul 15 XTERRA Beaver Creek # GOLD Beaver Creek, CO, USA Jul 30 XTERRA Abruzzo * Silver Scanno, Abruzzo, Italy Aug 5 XTERRA Mexico # GOLD Tapalpa Aug 5 XTERRA Norway * Silver Norefjell Aug 6 XTERRA Canmore ^ Canmore, Alberta, Canada Aug 12 XTERRA Quebec ^ Quebec City, Canada Aug 12 XTERRA Parry Sound ^ Ontario, Canada Aug 13 XTERRA Dominican Republic # Silver Barahona Aug 13 XTERRA Poland * Silver Krakow Aug 19 XTERRA Germany * GOLD Zittau Aug 26 XTERRA Sweden * Silver Hammarbybacken, Stockholm Aug 26 XTERRA Sleeping Giant ^ Thunder Bay, ON, Canada Sep 2 XTERRA Japan + Silver Hokkaido Sep 3 XTERRA European Championship (DEN) * GOLD Mons Klint Sep 16 XTERRA Pan Am Championship / USA # D-GOLD Ogden, Utah, USA Oct 29 XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

* XTERRA European Tour / # XTERRA Pan American Tour / + Asia-Pacific Tour
Silver = Min. $7,500 pro purse & 75-point scale // GOLD = Min $15,000 pro purse & 100-point scale

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