Lebrun, Erbenova win XTERRA Switzerland Championship

Prangins, Switzerland - Nico Lebrun and Helena Erbenova won the XTERRA Switzerland Championship race and captured the XTERRA European Tour pro titles on a beautiful day for a sold-out field of XTERRA Warriors in Prangins on Saturday.

Lebrun (pictured), a 39-year-old from Digne, France, was seventh out of the water then posted the fastest bike and run splits for a winning time of 2:17:44, just 27-seconds ahead of runner-up Asa Shaw.  With the win Lebrun also secured the Euro Tour Championship with 390 points (wins at Italy, Czech, Swiss, and a 2nd place at Germany).  Shaw finished second in the series with 380 points (wins at France and Germany, and 2nd place finishes at Czech and Swiss).

It marks the fourth time Lebrun has won the XTERRA European Tour title, and the first time since 2008.  The 2005 XTERRA World Champion now has 26 career XTERRA Championship victories since his first at the 2002 XTERRA East Championship in Richmond, VA.

“Today he beat them in their heads,” explained XTERRA managing director Dave Nicholas.  “There were four guys within 20-feet of each other coming off the bike.  That’s why he’s the professor.”

Aussie Ben Allen had the fastest swim and led the bike early before Shaw, Lebrun, and Olivier Marceau caught up towards the end of the bike.  On the run Lebrun took over and Shaw passed Allen for second-place.  Allen finished third, followed by Marceau and Francois Carloni in fifth.

“Beautiful day, I had legs and juice,” posted Lebrun to his Facebook page after the race.

ERBENOVA DOMINANT

In just her second year of racing XTERRA Helena Erbenova (pictured) has become a dominant force on the XTERRA European Tour.  The 33-year-old from Balatkova competed for the Czech Republic at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and has turned the grittiness learned from battling the cold into XTERRA success.

In her last six starts Erbenova finished a surprising third at the XTERRA World Championship last year, was second at the Euro Tour season-opener in Italy, and has since won four straight at XTERA France, Czech, Germany, and today – Switzerland.

While Erbenova came out of the water a full three minutes after the leaders – Jacqui Slack and Marion Lorblanchet – she crushed the bike (best split by four minutes) and the run (best run by two minutes) and won by nearly four minutes over last year’s Euro Tour Champ Marion Lorblanchet.

After a season spent battling injuries Lorblanchet came in healthy and was impressive for second-place, with XTERRA Italy champ Jacqui Slack in third, Carina Wasle fourth and Lenka Cibulkova fifth.

XTERRA Switzerland Elite Results

Pro Men

Pl  Name  Nat  Time
1  Nico Lebrun  FRA  2:17:44
2  Asa Shaw  FRA  2:18:12
3  Ben Allen  AUS  2:18:36
4  Olivier Marceau  SUI  2:21:32
5  Francois Carloni  FRA  2:24:24
6  Graham Wadsworth  GBR  2:25:16
7  Hector Guerra  ESP  2:25:30
8  Patrick Rhyner  SUI  2:25:58
9  Jan Kubicek  CZE  2:26:26
10  Pierre-Yves Facomprez  FRA  2:26:33

Also: Alexander Haas, Jim Thijs

Pro Women

Pl  Name  Country  Time
1  Helena Erbenova  CZE  2:38:35
2  Marion Lorblanchet  FRA  2:42:27
3  Jacqui Slack  GBR  2:43:54
4  Carina Wasle  AUT  2:47:47
5  Lenka Cibulkova  CZE  2:56:11
6  Laetitia Moreau  FRA  3:01:56

LEBRUN, ERBENOVA WIN EURO TOUR TITLES

Lebrun and Erbenova put exclamation points on fantastic seasons today in Switzerland.  Pros counted their best four finishes in the five-stop Tour.  Here’s a look at the top five in this years XTERRA European Tour. Complete standings with age group champions will be posted soon at www.xterraeurope.com.

Pos  Name  ITA  FRA  CZE  GER  SUI  TOT
1  Nico Lebrun, FRA  100  d82  100  90  100  390
2  Asa Shaw, FRA  x  100  90  100  90  380
3  Alexander Haas, GER  82  90  82  69  d41  323
4  Ben Allen, AUS  90  49  69  d41  82  290
5  Francois Carloni, FRA  63  63  x  63  69  258

Pos  Name  ITA  FRA  CZE  GER  SUI  TOT
1  Helena Erbenova, CZE  d90  100  100  100  100  400
2  Jacqui Slack, GBR  100  82  75  0  82  339
3  Carina Wasle, AUT  d69  75  90  75  75  315
4  Maud Golsteyn, NED  75  58  82  82  x  297
5  Lenka Cibulkova, CZE  x  x  69  58  69  196

Next on the XTERRA World Tour: The XTERRA Switzerland Championship is one of 16 major XTERRA World Tour events, and the last stop on the XTERRA European Tour.  Up next, the XTERRA USA Championship to conclude the America Tour on Sept. 22, then on to XTERRA Worlds in Maui.

Feb 26  XTERRA South Africa Championship, Grabouw, Western Cape
Mar 10  XTERRA Guam Championship, Piti
Mar 18  XTERRA Philippines Championship, Cebu
Mar 24  XTERRA Saipan Championship, Northern Marianas
Apr 14  XTERRA New Zealand Championship, Rotorua
May 27  XTERRA Italy Championship*, Orosei, Sardinia
July 8  XTERRA France Championship*, Xonrupt, Gerardmer
July 15  XTERRA Brazil Championship, Manaus, Amazon
Aug 4  XTERRA Czech Championship*, Prachatice, South Bohemia
Aug 4  XTERRA Mexico Championship, Tapalpa, Jalisco
Aug 11  XTERRA Germany Championship*, Zittau
Aug 25  XTERRA Japan Championship, Marunuma
Sept 2  XTERRA Canada Championship, Canmore,  A.B.
Sept 8  XTERRA Switzerland*, Prangins
Sept 22  XTERRA USA Championship, Ogden/Snowbasin, UT
Oct 28  XTERRA World Championship, Maui