Weiss looks forward to defending crown

Bradley Weiss relishes the prospects of defending his XTERRA crown this weekend against a battlescarred field but also against a new, challenging course.

“Having a new race venue in Danao adds to the excitement and I cannot wait to see what XTERRA Philippines and Sunrise Events, Inc. have in store for us,” said Weiss, referring to the Off-Road Triathlon firing off Sunday, April 23 at its new home in Cebu.

Weiss rallied to upend Australian Ben Allen and win last year’s crown in Albay but the South African ace, winner of a number of XTERRA events, expects a tougher, more challenging race not only for the top $15,000 purse but also for precious ranking points.

“My biggest rivals will be Sam Osborne from New Zealand and Allen, who are both currently ranked higher than myself in Asia Pacific Tour,” said Weiss. “I am sure it will continue to be a thrilling battle right until the final race of the series. It is my hope that I can claw back a few points in this pivotal race.”

The event is sponsored by Alcoplus, Sanicare, The Philippine Star, 2GO Express, Cetaphil, Prudential Guarantee, Columbia, Garmin, Tri Life, Cignal Hyper TV, Rocktape, Gatorade, MNTC, Coca Cola Femsa, Powerade, Wilkins and Storck.

Joining the troika in the title hunt are Japanese Takahiro Ogasawara, Taylor Charlton, Kieran McPherson, Jacky Boisset, Brodie Gardner, Olly Shaw, Alex Roberts, Dan Brown, Will Kelsay and local bet Joseph Miller.

The battle for the women’s crown is also tipped to go down-to-the-wire with last year’s runner-up Jackie Slack of Great Britain out to complete an unfinished business against Aussie Carina Wasle, Myriam Guillot-Boisset, Penny Slater of Australia and American Jessica Koltz.

Meanwhile, host Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI has vowed a successful staging of the event, the first of three after the city and SEI signed a memorandum of agreement making Danao the event’s host till 2019.