Press and Media Center

Tip O' the Cap to Waco's Cameron Park

At the inaugural XTERRA South Central Championship at Cameron Park last year Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz strutted across the finish line in a Cowboy hat, tipped it to the crowd in appreciation, and said, “I love this course, and when I came off the bike and someone said I had a four-minute lead I thought to myself maybe we should move the XTERRA World Championship to Waco.”

Indeed, the course suits Stoltz to a tee, and as former XTERRA World Champ Nico Lebrun said, “in this kind of race nobody can beat Conrad.  He’s on another planet on this kind of bike course.”

As such, Stoltz is again the heavy favorite to defend his title at Sunday's XTERRA South Central Championship in Waco, Texas - the second of six regional championships in the U.S. Pro Series.

"This is one of the most technical of all the courses.  It has short climbs and requires a lot of power so it suits me really well," said Stoltz at today's pre-race press briefing.  "What makes this year even more exciting is the weather.  Last year we had the heat,  and I didn't enjoy the race as much as I should have because it was so hot.  This year the weather is perfect, so I'm really looking forward to it."

Indeed, this year's race is a full month earlier in the season than last year's race date and the weather in Waco has been beautiful - nice and cool in the mornings with highs in the low 80s in the afternoon.

While Stoltz may be the favorite, nobody in the pro field is ready to concede the race just yet. The competition Stoltz will be up against in Waco is as good as it gets in the U.S., with nine of the top 10 racers in last year’s XTERRA U.S. Pro Series and the top four finishers from last weekend's XTERRA West Championship on the start list.

Heading the contenders list is America’s best hope, Josiah Middaugh from Vail, Colorado.  Middaugh, who ran past Stoltz on a grueling climb to win the West Champs on Sunday, will be the first guy not named Stoltz to wear No. 1 on his bike plate at a U.S. Championship event since 2006.  That's because Stoltz had won the previous four season-openers and stayed ranked No. 1 en route to winning the last four Series titles.

Middaugh came out of a long winter - in which he won the USAT Winter Triathlon National Championship and North American Snowshoe Championship - in great shape and posted the fastest run in Vegas.  Last year he did this race on very little rest with a 10-day old girl at home.  Still, he had the fastest run and finished second, about three minutes behind Stoltz.

Frenchman Nico Lebrun, the 2005 World Champ, was third here last year and is well conditioned for the rigorous climbing on the bike and run sections of this course. And for all those who fear the speedo, watch out for Tennessee’s Craig Evans who rocked a black speedo into fourth place last year and had the fastest swim split.

The Colorado crew will be in full force with former USA Champ Seth Wealing, along with Cody Waite, Branden Rakita, Will Kelsay, Shiloh Mielke, Patrick Valentine, and Jimmy Archer.  Rakita, who was the top American at XTERRA Worlds last year, started 2011 on a high-note with a third-place finish at the West Champs last weekend.  Mielke won the overall amateur title last year in a time that would’ve been good enough for 8th place among pros.

XTERRA also welcomes Vermont's Matt Boobar back into the fray and wishes Will Ross from Alaska the best of luck in his first race as a professional. "I’m excited, don’t know what to expect," said Ross.  "I think it’s an awesome course.  I race a lot of cyclocross and this course is all about corner-and-accelerate, corner-and-accelerate and that’s my thing."