With this win, Duffy joins Xterra Hall of Famer Conrad Stoltz as the only other elite to win four titles, and is the only elite to win four straight.
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With this win, Duffy joins Xterra Hall of Famer Conrad Stoltz as the only other elite to win four titles, and is the only elite to win four straight.
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More than 800 endurance athletes – including six physically challenged athletes – from 52 countries competed in the event, which started with a one-mile rough water swim at D.T. Fleming Beach, followed by a 20-mile mountain bike ride that traversed the West Maui Mountains, and finished with a tough 6.5-mile trail run in the hot sun. In total there was more than 4,000-feet of combined climbing on the technical bike and run courses.
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However the women’s race was all about Flora Duffy. She led the swim, the bike, and the run for the women by a remarkable lead. By mile 15 on the bike, Duffy had an almost six-minute lead on runner up Barbara Riveros from Chile.
“I did my first XTERRA World Championship in 2013, and I can vividly remember almost falling over running on that beach down there,” said Duffy.
“So, to be here today after winning four in a row is pretty unbelievable and pretty crazy to think about where I started. It’s a very special day for me, and what made it even cooler was that Bradley Weiss – Bad Brad I like to call him – won his first world title [men’s elite race]. We’ve done a lot of training together over the years. He helped me in my final prep to Rotterdam and I would like to think I helped him today.”
The 2017 Xterra Chile Champion, Barbara Riveros was in second place for most of the race after a solid swim. She finished in 2:56:11, about eight minutes behind Duffy. Laura Philipp was third in 2:57:24.
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“On the bike, Flora was on another level, we all know that,” said Riveros, a three-time Olympian, who missed the last two years at Maui because of injury. “I’m very happy to be at the finish in one piece and I’m happy to be back. I definitely need to spend more time on the mountain bike to get to the next level.”