Neustadt, Germany, September 8: At the 2007 XTERRA German championships Franky Batelier (FRA) finally climbed to the very top of the podium after he had earned two 2nd place finishes at XTERRA races before. In the women’s race Carina Wasle (AUT) proved to be too strong for her competition despite a sore calf.
Faris Al Sultan emerged first from the very cold swim in the Titisee with German Andi Boecherer and Batelier right on his heels. Al Sultan though was a bit out of his element on the tough Black Forrest mountain bike course and was quickly passed by Boecherer, Batelier, Nicolas Lebrun (FRA), Nico Pfitzenmaier (GER) and Jim Thijs (BEL). Boecherer was very fast on the bike and quickly gaped the competition by more than a minute and would eventually arrive in T2 with that margin in hand. Batelier arrived next, while Lebrun, Felix Schumann (GER), Pfitzenmeier, Ronnie Dietz (GER) and Jan Kubicek (CZE) were a bit further back. Al Sultan meanwhile had lost enough time on the bike where the podium was no longer an option.
Boecherer tried his best on the run to hold off the fast charging Batelier, but in the end the Frenchman proved too strong and determined. Batelier crossed the finish line in 2:44:35 just ahead of Boecherer who finished in 2:45:14. Lebrun grabbed the final podium spot in 2:46:05 and Schumann and Pfitzenmaier finished in 4th and 5th respectively. Faris Al Sultan would end up in 18th place in 3:02:22.
Fresh from her runner-up success at Monaco 70.3 a week earlier, Sibylle Matter (SUI) was first out of the water in the women’s race. She left T1 with a 2 minute gap on Eszter Erdelyi (HUN) and even more on Carina Wasle and Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer (AUT).
Her effort from the previous week though started to catch up to Matter and she was caught and passed by Wasle fairly quick. Bayliss-Scheidbauer was next to pounce on Matter and Katrin Hill (GER) started to make her presence noticed. Matter soon was hovering in 4th with Erdelyi following in 5th, and that was the order of arrival in T2.
Wasle looked very strong on the run and would come across the finish line first in 3:19:03. Matter came back on the run and would eventually finish 2nd in 3:21:59, while Erdelyi with the fastest run of the day ran all the way to 3rd in 3:22:32. Baylis-Scheiderbauer would eventually finish i4th in 3:24:03 and Hill earned 5th in a time of 3:25:29.
XTERRA Germany 2007 results
Top 10 men
1. Batelier, Franky (FRA) 02:44:35
2. Boecherer, Andreas (GER) 02:45:14
3. Lebrun, Nicolas (GER) 02:46:05
4. Schumann, Felix (GER) 02:47:18
5. Pfitzenmaier, Nico (GER) 02:50:52
6. Kubicek, Jan (CZE) 02:51:10
7. Dietz, Ronny (GER) 02:52:22
8. Novak, Petr (CZE) 02:52:57
9. Zadek, Karel (CZE) 02:54:27
10. Franck, Borgia (FRA) 02:54:53
Top 10 women
1. Wasle, Carina (AUT) 03:19:03
2. Matter, Sibylle (CHE) 03:21:59
3. Erdely, Eszter (HUN) 03:22:32
4. Baylis-Scheiderbauer, Anna (GER) 03:24:03
5. Hill, Katrin (GER) 03:25:29
6. Frank, Claudia (GER) 03:33:07
7. Vellano, Andrea (ITA) 03:40:02
8. Pauli, Gabi (GER) 03:45:57
9. Snyder, Suzie (USA) 03:46:17
10. Bettina Uhlig (GER) 03:48:06