FROM the swim leg to the punishing fire roads and rocky terrain in the bike part and the closing trail run, everything is set for the XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon Asia-Pacific Championship unfolding Sunday (April 22) in Danao, Cebu.
The host city is putting its best foot forward again, vowing no less than surpassing its first staging of the demanding endurance race in terms of hosting, organization—and more importantly making all the participants feel at home.
Its inaugural hosting, in fact, has left a lasting impact for the defending champions, at the very least, with Bradley Weiss of Australia and Carina Wasle expressing enthusiasm and excitement given the chance to compete again in what has long been considered as the toughest endurance race in Danao.
“XTERRA Danao is one of my favorite races and I’m very happy to return and I hope I can defend my title,” said Wasle, who beat the field by almost 30 minutes last year in ending a pair of heartbreakers on XTERRA Philippines.
Like the Austrian ace, Weiss is looking forward to defending his crown in the men’s pro side although he remains wary of the souped-up field in the challenging 1.5K swim, 28K bike on fire roads and rocky terrain, and 8K trail run event with the city’s scenic mountain ranges as backdrop.
“I am incredibly excited to be returning to XTERRA Danao this year as the defending champion,” said Weiss, who banked on his superb mountain-biking skills in fire roads and rocky terrain to beat New Zealand’s Sam Osborne by almost seven minutes.
That should more than fire up the duo for the keenly awaited event.
Host of a number of international mountain bike events in recent years, Danao offers a challenging course that tests not only the field’s stamina and power but also their mental toughness. The host city will stage the Xterra until 2019 in line with the three-year contract signed by city officials with the organizing Sunrise Events, Inc.
For details, visit www.danao.xterraphil.com or at facebook and twitter xterrasouthph.
The event, presented by the Province of Cebu and the City of Danao, is backed by venue hosts Coco Palms Beach Resort and Cebu Technological U, and 2Go Express, David’s Salon, Intercare, Motor Ace, Hyper on Cignal, The Philippine Star, AlcoPlus, DeVant, Sanicare and Storck.
Aside from the full Xterra (individual and relay), also on tap are competitions in the Lite (individual and relay), a 750m swim-14km mountain bike-4km trail run, and the duathlon (individual), a 2km trail run-14km mountain bike-4km trail run event.
The swim leg starts and end at Coco Palm Beach Resort while competitors ride on a two-loop course starting with barangay road leading to a higher elevation in the bike par. They can expect to encounter several punishing climbs as they go deeper into the course before entering fireroads and then rocky terrain.
The run leg will have participants go on a gradual climb in grass open areas leading to portions with lots of loose rocks. The one-loop course takes them to a single track and narrow lanes before bringing them back to the finish line at Cebu Technological University.