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Ruben Ruzafa from Spain and Maud Golsteyn from the Netherlands captured the elite titles at XTERRA Norway, held at the Norejfell Ski & Spa Resort in Noresund this afternoon.

For Ruzafa, a three-time XTERRA World Champion, the win is the 30th of his career and seventh this year. For Golsteyn, it’s her first win as an elite.

XTERRA World Tour managing director Dave Nicholas was on-site to take in all the action and brings us this report…

The story today is not that Ruben Ruzafa won. Again. The story is all about the lovely Maud Golsteyn, who won her first XTERRA since starting in Sardinia in 2009.

“I am so thrilled, the feeling is fantastic,” she smiled.  “I had a very good bike, but a not so good swim. I rode pretty fast and caught Louise. We stayed together for quite a while and when we got to that final, long 10K climb I was able to get away.”

Golsteyn led Great Britain’s Louise Fox by two minutes heading onto the run and it was beginning to rain.  The unknown Nicoline Sorensen was in her first mountain bike race but pushed hard on the last 10K and came into T2 just 30-seconds behind Fox.

“I was so surprised when I started catching her,” said Sorensen.  “And then I started to cramp up on the ridge, and I knew I had to stop. Then I looked ahead and Louise was also cramping!”

Indeed the second and third place women were within shouting distance and both stopped to massage out cramps.

“I saw her stopped and stretching her leg,” said Fox.  “I was able to get going before her and felt pretty good the rest of the way. I was worried because I broke my toe in Finland and had not been able to run very much.”

Tanya Sorensen led out of the water and the first 8K of the bike and finished in 4th. All that sounds fairly normal – except you were not here and you were not running on top of a mountain in a driving, and I mean a serious, rain.

The morning was cloudy and cool, but dry.  The swim and first loop of the bike were actually warm and several bikers were shedding their jackets and sweating.  Ruben came out of the water with young German Peter Lehmann, Kristian Rod (NOR) and Anders Mortensen (DEN).  Ruzafa quickly asserted himself and started riding away.  Lehmann was not giving up and was down only a few minutes onto the second lap of the lower course.

“I was riding really well but knew I could not catch Ruben so I wanted to keep my own pace,” said Lehmann.

We were all pulling for Peter as he has had a miserable season with mechanicals and even a bee sting that felled him in France.

“I felt good the whole way and was surprised when three other guys caught me and we all came into T2 together,” added Lehman.

Czech age grouper Tomas Matera, Olympian and age grouper Eskild Ebbesen and pro Espen Helgesen went up the first hill past the resort within 20 feet of each other.

Ebbesen was a beast on the bike.  A 5-time Olympian with 3 gold and 2 bronze medals, this man is fit and focused.  He simply out muscled the others up the long final climb.  He’ll be in Maui and I suspect he will put some fear in the 45-49 age group bunch. The crowd was yelling and banging the fences, it was all very exciting.  Quietly but efficiently Anders Bregnhoj was catching the second place struggle putting in the fastest bike time, two seconds faster than Ruzafa.

Up onto the mountain where racers start with about 3-kilometers of reasonable climbing and come face to face with a steep, next to impossible climb section.  “Here it is better to walk rather than try to run and lose lots of energy ending in deep mud or slip and finally end up going no faster,” said XTERRA Euro Tour director Nico Lebrun.

Lehmann began to use that energy he had saved on the bike.  Local pro Oivind Bjerkseth, who laid out the entire course, was catching the pack.  The difficult run and the beginnings of the rain fractured the bunch leaving Peter Lehmann a very happy 2nd about seven-minutes behind Ruzafa.  In 3rd overall was Matera (a pro adventure racer) and he was just 15-seconds ahead of Espen Helgesen.

“We had a great run together,” he smiled. “I was behind him on the last downhill but he started to slow and then I pushed.  When I got past him he did not come back.  I am headed to the USA next week for the adventure racing World Championship but I think I will try to race pro in XTERRA next year.”

Espen was a fine 4th overall on a very difficult day.

Ruzafa was gracious as always.  He controlled himself and the race.  “I have many races coming up in the next weeks so I wanted to race, not just train. This is a very hard course so it was perfect for me”.

As is often the case, we were all soaked at the 3-hour mark and it only lasted an hour.  Norway is an unqualified success.  The organization was great, the resort first-class and the challenge superb.  Combine that with spectacular nature and wildlife, and this race will get on everyone’s must do list.

Congratulations to a fine victory for Maud Golsteyn. This has vaulted her to 3rd in the season points standings behind only Helena Erbenova and Brigitta Poor.  Ruzafa is now nearly 200 points ahead of Francois Carloni and just over 200 ahead of Xavier Dafflon.  There are three races left and two of them are Gold offering 100 points to the winner and 90 to 2nd place.  Ruzafa does have a commanding lead, but certainly does not have a lock on the Championship.  For some reason neither Carloni nor Dafflon are entered in Poland next week and Ruzafa will not be there.  Hmm, change of mind anyone?

It can only get more interesting from here.

Elite men Pos Name Nat Time Pts 1 Ruben Ruzafa ESP 2:41:27 75 2 Peter Lehmann GER 2:49:21 67 3 Oivind Bjerkseth NOR 2:53:28 61 4 Anders Bregnohj DEN 2:55:50 56 5 Kristian Rod NOR 2:59:10 51 Elite Women Pos Name Nat Time Pts 1 Maud Golsteyn NED 3:22:44 75 2 Louise Fox GBR 3:28:28 67 3 Nicoline Sorensen DEN 3:30:05 61 4 Tanja Hultengren Larsson NOR 3:40:49 56 5 Lucie Materova CZE 3:47:51 51

RUZAFA, KARASKOVA-ERBENOVA REMAIN ON TOP OF EURO TOUR

Ruben Ruzafa the reigning XTERRA European Tour Champion is now almost untouchable after 11 of 14 races on this year’s tour. In the men’s chase Carloni retains his spot at No. 2, with Xavier Dafflon still in third position followed by Yeray Luxem in 4th and Rui Dolores remains in 5th place.

For the women, Helena Karaskova-Erbenova is still in the lead with Brigitta Poor in second as neither raced today in Norway. With her victory today Golsteyn moved up to third place, Carina Wasle dropped to 4th and Morgane Riou still at No. 5.

Next Up:  XTERRA Poland, August 13 Elite Points Standings

Elite Men Pos Name/Nat Total MLT CYP GRE ESP POR BEL FIN SUI FRA ITA NOR 1 Ruben Ruzafa, ESP 565 DNS DNS 75 75 75 75 DNS 90 100 DNS 75 2 Francois Carloni, FRA 373 61 47 43 DNS 61 51 DNS 63 DNF 47 DNS 3 Xavier Dafflon, SUI 351 DNS DNS 47 DNS 56 67 DNS 69 37 75 DNS 4 Yeray Luxem, BEL 293 DNS 75 DNS DNS 67 61 DNS DNS 90 DNS DNS 5 Rui Dolores, POR 236 DNS DNS 39 36 47 DNS DNS 41 34 39 DNS 6 Arthur Forissier, FRA 233 DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 82 DNS DNS 7 Oivind Bjerkseth, NOR 217 33 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS 61 8 Maxim Chane, FRA 214 30 DNS 36 DNS DNS 47 DNS DNP 45 56 DNS 9 Roger Serrano, ESP 203 75 DNS 67 DNS DNS DNF DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS 10 Sam Osborne, NZL 200 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 58 67 DNS 11 Xavier Jove Riart, ESP 171 DNS DNS DNS 67 51 DNS DNS DNP 53 DNS DNS 12 Jens Roth, GER 166 DNS DNS 61 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS DNS 13 Hannes Wolpert, GER 149 DNF 43 DNP DNS 36 DNP DNS 37 DNP 33 DNS 14 Jan Kubicek, CZE 149 DNS DNS DNP 39 DNS 43 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 15 Jan Pyott, SUI 145 56 DNS 25 33 DNS DNS DNS 31 DNF DNS DNS 16 Arthur Serrieres , FRA 143 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNP DNS 82 DNP DNS DNS 17 Bradley Weiss, RSA 131 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNF 75 DNS DNS 18 Maximilian Sasserath, GER 128 67 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 19 Thomas Kerner, GER 127 DNS 61 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 20 Peter Lehmann, GER 124 DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS 30 DNS DNS DNF DNF 67 21 Anthony Pannier, FRA 101 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 DNF 43 DNS 22 Mark Hamersma, NED 94 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS 28 DNS DNS 23 Dominik Wychera, AUT 80 DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS 41 DNS DNS 24 Theo Dupras, FRA 80 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS 53 DNP DNS DNS 25 Julien Buffe, FRA 79 DNS 56 23 DNS DNS DNP DNS DNP DNS DNS DNS Elite Women Pos Name/Nat Total MLT CYP GRE ESP POR BEL FIN SUI FRA ITA NOR 1 Helena Karaskova-Erbenova, CZE 563 67 DNS 75 75 61 75 DNS 53 82 75 DNS 2 Brigitta Poor, HUN 512 75 75 67 67 75 DNS DNS 63 90 DNS DNS 3 Maud Golsteyn, NED 343 56 DNS 47 DNS 56 51 DNS 58 DNS DNS 75 4 Carina Wasle, AUT 317 51 DNS DNS DNS 67 67 DNS 69 63 DNS DNS 5 Morgane Riou, FRA 266 DNS 67 56 DNS DNS 61 DNS 82 DNS DNS DNS 6 Cecila Jessen, SWE 206 39 61 DNS DNS DNS 39 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS 7 Nicole Walters, GBR 205 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 69 DNS DNS 8 Louise Fox, GBR 185 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS 67 9 Myriam Guillot-Boisset, FRA 165 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 75 DNS DNS 10 Isabelle Klein, LUX 155 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS 41 58 DNS DNS 11 Kathrin Mueller, GER 134 33 DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS 12 Renata Bucher, SUI 104 DNS DNS 43 DNF DNS DNS DNS DNS DNF 61 DNS 13 Isabelle Ferrer, FRA 100 DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS DNS DNS 14 Michelle Flipo, MEX 100 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 DNS DNS DNS 15 Laura Philipp, GER 100 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 100 DNS DNS 16 Rocío Espada, ESP 98 DNS DNS DNS 51 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 17 Ladina Buss, SUI 96 DNS DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS DNS 18 Kristina Lapinova, SVK 96 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS DNS 19 Angela Niklaus, SUI 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 53 DNS DNS 20 Jessica Roberts, GBR 84 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS 41 DNS DNS 21 Anna Pauline Sasserath, GER 79 36 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 Elizabeth Orchard, NZL 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 67 DNS 23 Miriam Casillas Garcia, ESP 61 DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 24 Sara Bonilla, ESP 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 25 Elina Honkavuori, FIN 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS XTERRA Norway was the 11th of 14 races on the XTERRA European Tour where amateur athletes from around the world can qualify to race at the 22nd annual XTERRA World Championship in Maui on October 29. Date Race Elite Winners or Location 25-Feb XTERRA South Africa Richard Murray / Flora Duffy 4-Mar XTERRA Motatapu Dougal Allan / Josie Wilcox 18-Mar XTERRA Saipan + Silver Sam Osborne / Carina Wasle 25-Mar XTERRA Argentina # Silver Gonzalo Tellechea / Suzie Snyder 1-Apr XTERRA Thailand + Silver Kieran McPherson / Renata Bucher 1-Apr XTERRA Chile # Silver Felipe Barraza / Barbara Riveros 2-Apr XTERRA Malta * Silver Roger Serrano / Brigitta Poor 8-Apr XTERRA New Zealand + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 9-Apr XTERRA Costa Rica # Silver Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 16-Apr XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Danao + GOLD Bradley Weiss / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Cyprus * Silver Yeray Luxem / Brigitta Poor 29-Apr XTERRA Langkawi + GOLD Osborne,Allen,Weiss,McPherson/Wasle 30-Apr XTERRA Greece * Silver Ruben Ruzafa, Helena Erbenova 6-May XTERRA Tahiti + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 13-May XTERRA Brazil # Silver Felipe Moletta / Sabrina Gobbo 14-May XTERRA Spain * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 20-May XTERRA Oak Mountain # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 27-May XTERRA Portugal * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Brigitta Poor 10-Jun XTERRA Belgium * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 17-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter ^ Karsten Madsen / Heather Pady 18-Jun XTERRA Finland * Silver Pavel Andreev / Louise Fox 24-Jun XTERRA Switzerland * GOLD Arthur Forissier / Michelle Flipo 2-Jul XTERRA France * GOLD Ruben Ruzafa / Laura Philipp 9-Jul XTERRA Victoria # Silver Karsten Madsen / Suzie Snyder 15-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Lesley Paterson 30-Jul XTERRA Abruzzo * Silver Xavier Dafflon / Helena Karaskova 5-Aug XTERRA Mexico # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 5-Aug XTERRA Norway * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Maud Golssteyn 6-Aug XTERRA Canmore ^ Canmore, Alberta, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Quebec ^ Quebec City, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Parry Sound ^ Ontario, Canada 13-Aug XTERRA Dominican Republic # Silver Barahona 13-Aug XTERRA Poland * Silver Krakow 19-Aug XTERRA Germany * GOLD Zittau 26-Aug XTERRA Sleeping Giant ^ Thunder Bay, ON, Canada 2-Sep XTERRA Japan + Silver Hokkaido 3-Sep XTERRA European Championship (DEN) * GOLD Mons Klint 16-Sep XTERRA Pan Am Championship / USA # D-GOLD Ogden, Utah, USA 29-Oct XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

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