Ilhabela, Brazil – Home country heroes Felipe Moletta and Sabrina Gobbo captured the 13th annual XTERRA Brazil Championship elite titles on the island of Ilhabela this morning.
It’s the third Brazil title for Moletta and the fourth straight for Gobbo.
Complete Results / Photos
In the men’s race, under an azure sky, Moletta took the lead on the bike and held onto it until the end with a time of 2:32:24, just two minutes in front of Kieran McPherson from New Zealand, who finished second in 2:34:29.
“Very happy to win here in Ilhabela, on the Brazilian stage of the XTERRA World Tour, where I started in triathlon many years ago,” posted Moletta to his Facebook page. “I thank everyone who supported me and especially who believe in the sport, and dedicate this victory to all the moms and in particular, my dear mother and my wife…I love you!”
Moletta, who was the XTERRA Brazil champ in 2012 and 2014, is no stranger to XTERRA Brazil or to victory, but this was the 10-year XTERRA veteran’s first win in Ilhabela.
Moletta previously stated that XTERRA Brazil is very special to him. When it took place in the city of Sao Paulo in 2014, Moletta’s son had just been born and was in the hospital. Happily, both father and son came out as champs that day.
Runner-up Kieran McPherson exited the water first with a small lead, and said “I rode hard but conservatively for the first part of the bike because it wasn’t a matter of if they would catch me but when.”
McPherson, the reigning XTERRA Thailand Champ who has already done four races on the Asia-Pacific Tour (where he sits in third place), added that “Felipe caught me on the last major climb and I could not respond. My legs were definitely feeling all the travel of the last few weeks. Felipe was too strong on the run and I was only able to maintain my gap.”
McPherson now turns his attention to the Pan Am Tour and will be racing at the next stop at XTERRA Oak Mountain in Pelham, Alabama next Saturday.
“I raced well and I’m happy with my second-place performance, but I’m looking forward to a little R&R before ‘Bama.”
Triathlon legend and 2008 XTERRA Brazil Champ Alexandre Manzan was third in 2:41:20.
In the women’s race, Sabrina Gobbo claimed victory for the fourth year in a row. She finished in 3:12:02, a full 10-minutes in front of runner up, Laura Mira Dias, who finished second in 3:22:25.
With the win Gobbo becomes the first elite to win XTERRA Brazil four times. (American great Shonny Vanlandingham and Moletta each have three titles). Gobbo was fifth on the Pan Am Tour last year and is currently seated fourth in the standings after four races.
Isabella Ribeiro was third in 3:30:40, allowing Brazil to take all three spots on the podium.The top three women finished in the same order last year, and Gobbo and Dias finished 10 minutes apart in 2016, as well.
All-Time XTERRA Brazil Elite Champions
Year – Man/Woman
2017-Felipe Moletta/Sabrina Gobbo
2016-Albert Soley/Sabrina Gobbo
2015-Diogo Malagon/Sabrina Gobbo
2014-Felipe Moletta/Sabrina Gobbo
2013-Conrad Stoltz/Shonny Vanlandingham
2012-Felipe Moletta/Shonny Vanlandingham
2011-Ben Allen/Carina Wasle
2010-Dan Hugo/Shonny Vanlandingham
2009-Rom Akerson/Maria Omar
2008-Alexandre Manzan/Carla Prada
2007-Mike Vine/Candy Angle
2006-Nico Lebrun/Candy Angle
2005-Conrad Stoltz/Jamie Whitmore
Elite Results
Pos Name, NAT Time Points Swim Bike Run 1 Felipe Moletta, BRA 2:32:24 75 0:24:28 1:18:02 0:49:06 2 Kieran McPherson, NZL 2:34:29 67 0:22:50 1:20:39 0:50:05 3 Alexandre Manzan, BRA 2:41:20 61 0:24:26 1:24:59 0:50:43 4 Frederico Zacharias, BRA 2:43:06 56 0:25:13 1:21:51 0:55:06 5 Henrique Lugarini, BRA 2:46:18 51 0:24:15 1:23:15 0:57:50 6 Diogo Malagon, BRA 2:49:54 47 0:24:26 1:25:55 0:58:34 7 Rodrigo Moreira, BRA 2:54:37 43 0:26:30 1:29:25 0:57:27 8 Silveira Silva, BRA 2:59:00 39 0:26:30 1:29:29 1:01:58 9 Guilherme Goncalves, BRA 3:08:08 36 0:24:56 1:31:01 1:11:05 10 Anderson Ferreira, BRA 3:10:01 33 0:24:22 1:41:51 1:01:02 11 Wellington Conceicao, BRA 3:32:16 30 0:34:45 1:54:18 1:00:54 12 Pericles Andrade, BRA 3:43:25 27 0:31:14 1:47:51 1:23:04 13 Fernando Melo, BRA 3:56:38 25 0:33:04 2:03:13 1:13:09 14 Leonardo Lisboa, BRA 4:04:41 23 0:25:59 2:24:13 1:12:46 Pos Name, NAT Time Points Swim Bike Run 1 Sabrina Gobbo, BRA 3:12:02 75 0:28:19 1:38:13 1:04:36 2 Laura Mira Dias, BRA 3:22:25 67 0:27:30 1:46:21 1:07:15 3 Isabella Ribeiro, BRA 3:30:40 61 0:29:15 1:48:12 1:11:12 4 Vanessa Cabrini, BRA 3:39:30 56 0:24:23 2:00:03 1:13:35 5 Fernanda Prieto, BRA 3:41:10 51 0:33:17 1:53:16 1:12:08 6 Brisa Melcop, BRA 3:51:27 47 0:26:05 1:54:50 1:28:04XTERRA Pan America Tour Elite Standings
With the win today, coupled with his third place finish at XTERRA Chile last month, Felipe Moletta moves into fourth-place in the 2017 XTERRA Pan America Tour elite standings. Jean-Philippe Thibodeau from Canada is still in the lead, followed by Branden Rakita from the U.S. and Gonzalo Tellechea of Argentina.
In the women’s standings Laura Mira Dias jumped past Suzie Snyder to take the lead after her second-place showing today. Dias is the only racer to do all four events on the Tour this season.
Next up: XTERRA Oak Mountain in Pelham, Alabama next Saturday, May 20. Oak Mountain is the first Gold race of the season, awarding points at the 100-point level and awarding $15,000 USD in prize money.
2017 XTERRA PAN AM TOUR ELITE STANDINGS
After 4 (As of 5.14)
2017 XTERRA World Championship Qualifying Series Schedule
XTERRA Brazil was the 16th 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 13 XTERRA Brazil # Silver Felipe Moletta / Sabrina Gobbo May 14 XTERRA Spain * Silver Tarragona 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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