Xterra Keystone
Keystone, Colorado
Sunday, July 19, 2004
1km swim, 31km mountain bike, 10km trail run
Complete Results

Men
1. Josiah Middaugh (USA) 2:07:32
2. Nicolas LeBrun (FRA) 2:07:47
3. David Henestrosa (ESP) 2:07:59
4. Sylain Dodet (FRA) 2:09:40
5. Justin Thomas (USA) 2:11:08
6. Conrad Stoltz (RSA) 2:12:38
7. Greg Krause (USA) 2:12:40
8. Jason Chalker (AUS) 2:14:48
9. Ryan Ignatz (USA) 2:15:22
10. Brian Smith (USA) 1:17:05

Women
1. Jamie Whitmore 2:27:19
2. Melanie McQuaid (CAN) 2:35:18
3. Janae Deverell (USA) 2:40:31
4. Lisa Isom (USA) 2:42:05
5. Candy Angle (USA) 2:42:43
6. Jen Smith (USA) 2:43:14
7. Lynley Allison (NZL) 2:45:08
8. Monique Merrill (USA) 2:49:11
9. Jari Kirkland (USA) 2:49:20
10. Anke Erlank (RSA) 2:50:19

Both Josiah Middaugh and Jamie Whitmore bombed the downhill to put a hurt on the rest of the field in winning their respective pro divisions at the Nissan Xterra Central Championship in Keystone, Colorado.

Picture perfect Rocky Mountain conditions with blue skies and cool breezes greeted another stellar field for the second-of-four big events in the Nissan Xterra National Championship Series. The race was as exhilarating as the weather, with Middaugh - the young up-and-comer - shocking a strong contingent of international superstars by posting the fastest bike split of the day and holding on during the run for his first-ever major victory in the sport. It's the first win for an American in the last 12 Xterra Championship races, and how it all unfolded made for a truly memorable day.

Middaugh came out of the water in 20th place, nearly two full minutes behind Xterra Italy champ David Henestrosa from Spain, and more than a minute-and-a-half behind Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz and Richmond winner Sylvain Dodet.

“It was my best swim ever,” said Middaugh, who's also a two time national snowshoe champion. “I was still two minutes behind the leaders but was ahead of Justin Thomas, and with Tyler Johnson, and some of the other guys that are usually a minute ahead of me, so I knew I had a good swim and I just had to put everything else together.”

Did he ever. In what was universally attributed to his familiarity with the altitude (lives half-hour away in Vail and likely rode the course more, and traveled less, than anyone) Middaugh peeled off one rider after another during the 2,000-foot climb to the Summit of Keystone Mountain at more than 11,000 ft. elevation.

More impressive was what he did when he got there. Dodet, LeBrun, Henestrosa, and Justin Thomas were all within striking distance (30 seconds or so) at the top - until Middaugh started down.

“I knew I could bomb the downhill because I've been riding the course and I was going to go as hard as I could down that hill. I bombed everything pretty good,” he said. His split was 1:12:19, a minute-thirty faster than the second-best split put up by Justin Thomas. LeBrun estimated that Middaugh put 1:30 on Dodet and he on the descent.

“He was just in front of me and every time I saw him he'd go a little faster, and I kept saying, “Who is this guy”. I catch Sylvain and only two guys ahead but they are very close like 20 seconds at the summit, but he put a lot on the downhill,” said LeBrun. “I didn't want to play with my luck by going very hard on the downhill and risk losing everything. But I think Josiah was very, very strong today. He was great in the altitude.”

By the time the chase pack got to the bike-to-run transition Middaugh had been on the run course for more than two minutes. Still, it was not a comfortable cushion. was excited when I got off the bike and had a big lead but then when I saw who was coming, I was like, oh crap, because I knew that Henestrosa, Sylvain, Justin and Nico can post run times two minutes faster than mine sometimes. I knew if I ran hard I could give up a minute, but that was about it.”

The thin air would work in Middaugh's favor, however. Henestrosa was the closest, followed by Thomas and then the two Frenchmen. Dodet and LeBrun pulled in Thomas quickly, and Nico dropped Dodet at the climbing section midway through the run. The ensuing cat-and-mouse game with LeBrun and Henestrosa that followed could have cost both the win.

“When I caught Henestrosa I thought he could run very fast and I was afraid about him at the end so I tried not to run faster than I could because I knew he could stay with me and then maybe go faster at the end for the win,” said LeBrun, the 2004 Xterra Czech Champion. “Maybe that's why I lost the race.” ey both had Middaugh in sight, but while they worried about each other Josiah kept going right on through the finish arch filled with hometown fans.

LeBrun, who won the Xterra Czech Championship three weeks ago, turned it on in the last half-mile to come in second. Nico is currently second in both the Xterra European Tour (with only Xterra Germany remaining) and Xterra U.S. Series standings. He trails 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Jan Rehula in Europe, and friend Dodet in the U.S. Henestrosa, who racing in just his third-ever Xterra led on the bike all the way until the summit, placed third. Only 27 seconds separated the top three.

Dodet held on for fourth place and now leads the pro series after two events with 175 points, and Justin Thomas finished on the podium once again despite racing with a leg injury. “I suffered like a dog on the run,” he said. “I had a pretty good descent on the mountain bike and came into t2 in third and was telling myself just to get top 5 and I'd be pleased. It's probably the hardest top five I've ever had so I'll take it.”

He now has five straight podium finishes, and currently sits 4^th in the Xterra European Tour Standings. Stoltz had an admittedly bad day but still finished sixth - five minutes behind Middaugh. Greg Krause from Denver, in his second Xterra as a pro, had an impressive day finishing 7th. Australian Jason Chalker, and Colorado standouts Ryan Ignatz and Brian Smith rounded out the top 10.

Women's Race

“It's all about the hard tail,” said Whitmore, describing her course record performance today. `The biggest decision was weather to run my hard tail or full suspension because we knew this race is really won on the uphill climb and for me to push a full suspension is hard because I'm so little - so we opted for the hard tail. I ended up having a faster bike split with that than in previous years on my full suspension, and I felt really comfortable because I've been racing it five weeks straight.”

Her time was 2:27:19, more than three minutes faster than her winning times of the last two years here in Keystone. And in the previous four weekends, she'd won four races - Xterra Austria, Xterra Czech, Xterra Italy, and Xterra Netherlands. By doing so, she clinched the Xterra European Tour Championship for the second straight year and ran her Euro winning streak to seven.

Before she went to Europe Whitmore came in second at the first U.S. race of the season in Richmond, and that's one of the difference between racing in the U.S. and oversees - the Melanie McQuaid factor. The two have split the last six meetings (between winning and runner-up), with Whitmore claiming the U.S. Series last year and Melanie, the Xterra World Championship. Today it was Jamie's turn.

“My goal was to come out of the swim in a good spot and stay ahead of Melanie and Anke Erlank so then they're not going to see me on the uphill and not going to be able to chase me the same as if they did,” said Whitmore, who said she'd been working on her swim technique with friends in Europe.

It worked. “J-Dawg” came out of the water seventh overall and quickly reeled in the first few, then caught Candy Angle about a quarter of the way up the hill, and eventually buzzed past Janae Deverell and Lynley Allison. Halfway up the mountain she had a minute on the field and never looked back. “Once I hit the summit I let it rip on the downhill and was flying. It was my fastest ride yet in Keystone,” said Whitmore. “I love this course because it has a little bit of everything, an uphill climb that doesn't let up, hike-a-bike sections, technical spots, wide open sections - it's the essence of what a mountain bike course should be.”

McQuaid, less than 24 hours removed from the Canadian MTB Nationals at Mount St. Ann in Quebec - what she described as “25k in a foot of mud - the longest hardest race of my life” - turned in a great race just the same. “I was never going fast today but I rode well, because I was riding with no pressure. If I got passed I didn't care,” said McQuaid. “I was pretty far from Jamie but I didn't really expect to be anywhere near her being as tired as I was.”

Nobody got close to Whitmore, but a pair of first-time pro racers in Janae Deverell and Lisa Isom put on quite the show. Deverell, who won the Nissan Xterra USA Amateur Championship last year, had the fastest swim and was only passed the rest of the day by Whitmore and McQuaid to finish 3rd in her pro debut. “I live in the mountains and we've got plenty of hills,” Deverell said. “But this was a great surprise. I was just shooting for the top 10.”

Isom, who like Middaugh lives in nearby Vail, won the amateur race here last year and that's what prompted her to go pro. “This is my favorite race. I live nearby so it's the same altitude, and it's easy travel,” she said. “I pr'd by nine minutes and came in fourth. I love it.”