Il 15° XTERRA Saipan, nelle splendide Isole Marianne Settentrionali, si è corso il 12 marzo 2016 e ha visto trionfare l’australiano Brodie Gardner e l’austriaca veterana del circuito, Carina Wasle.
Gardner ha preceduto il giapponese Takahiro Ogasawara e il filippino Joe Miller, mentre Wasle si è messa alle spalle Mieko Carey, anche lei giapponese, e un’altra grande campionessa del cross triathlon marchiato XTERRA, la svizzera Renata Bucher.
Al traguardo anche un italiano! Si tratta di Simone Vacchelli che è arrivato in questo piccolo arcipelago nell’Oceano Pacifico dopo un viaggio infinito e, determinato a raggiungere l’obiettivo, ha conquistato il 14° posto assoluto e il 2° di categoria M30-34 che gli è valso l’agognata slot per l’XTERRA Maui World Championship del prossimo 23 ottobre 2016!
Simone Vacchelli premiato come 2° M30-34 all’XTERRA Saipan 2016 vince la slot per il Mondiale
XTERRA Saipan
15^ edizione
Saipan (Isole Marianne Settentrionali), 12-03-2016
Cross Triathlon (1.5-30-12K)
SITO
CLASSIFICA
(completa qui)
UOMINI PRO
1 Brodie Gardner AUS 2:52:46 15:21 1:33:40 1:03:45 100
2 Takahiro Ogasawara JPN 2:54:14 17:10 1:33:27 1:03:37 90
3 Joe Miller PHI 3:05:03 17:03 1:41:19 1:06:41 82
4 Kaon Cho KOR 3:21:08 17:21 1:50:47 1:13:00 75
DONNE PRO
1 Carina Wasle AUT 3:05:40 17:16 1:43:06 1:05:18 100
2 Mieko Carey JPN 3:12:40 17:20 1:44:31 1:10:49 90
3 Renata Bucher SUI 3:22:38 17:02 1:52:16 1:13:20 82
4 Belinda Hadden AUS 3:40:21 17:00 2:05:18 1:18:03 75
ITALIANI AL TRAGUARDO
14 Simone Vacchelli 03:41:00 18:57 1:53:40 1:25:21 (2° M30-34 e qualificato per XTERRA Maui World Championship 2016)
Simone Vacchelli in azione all’XTERRA Saipan 2016
| XTERRA SAIPAN ALL-TIME PRO WINNERS | ||
| Year | Men | Women |
| 2002 | Mike Vine | Jamie Whitmore |
| 2003 | Jason Chalker | Jamie Whitmore |
| 2004 | Olivier Marceau | Jamie Whitmore |
| 2005 | Olivier Marceau | Renata Bucher |
| 2006 | Olivier Marceau | Renata Bucher |
| 2007 | Olivier Marceau | Renata Bucher |
| 2008 | Andrew Noble | Renata Bucher |
| 2009 | Sam Gardner | Renata Bucher |
| 2010 | Sam Gardner | Renata Bucher |
| 2011 | Sam Gardner | Shonny Vanlandingham |
| 2012 | Ben Allen | Renata Bucher |
| 2013 | Ben Allen | Jacqui Slack |
| 2014 | Ben Allen | Carina Wasle |
| 2015 | Ben Allen | Jacqui Slack |
| 2016 | Brodie Gardner | Carina Wasle |
THE OFF-ROAD TO LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA
XTERRA Saipan was the third of six races in the 2015-2016 XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour where pros and amateurs count their best three scores (the finale in Malaysia counts double).
With the win Gardner moves into second-place in the Tour standings with 182 points (he was third in the Philippines) while Ogasawara continues to lead the men’s tour title chase with three scoring races and 247 points.
Reigning XTERRA Japan champion Mieko Carey is in the lead of the women’s tour chase with 272 points followed by Lizzie Orchard and Wasle.
Next up on the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour is XTERRA New Zealand (April 16, 2016), followed a week later by the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship in Australia (April 23, 2016) and then the tour finale at XTERRA Malaysia (May 7, 2016).
XTERRA ASIA-PACIFIC TOUR ELITE STANDINGS, tentative after 3 events
| PL | NAME | JPN | PHI | SAIPAN | NZL | AUS | MAS | TOT |
| 1 | Takahiro Ogasawara, JPN | 82 | 75 | 90 | 247 | |||
| 2 | Brodie Gardner, AUS | DNS | 82 | 100 | 182 | |||
| 3 | Charlie Epperson, USA | 75 | 69 | DNS | 144 | |||
| 4 | Joe Miller, PHI | DNS | 49 | 82 | 131 | |||
| 5 | Kaon Cho, KOR | 53 | DNS | 75 | 128 | |||
| 6 | Cameron Oneal, USA | 63 | 53 | DNS | 116 | |||
| 7 | Courtney Atkinson, AUS | 100 | DNS | DNS | 100 | |||
| 8 | Bradley Weiss, RSA | DNS | 100 | DNS | 100 | |||
| 9 | Cedric Lassonde, FRA | 90 | DNS | DNS | 90 | |||
| 10 | Ben Allen, AUS | DNS | 90 | DNS | 90 | |||
| 11 | Taro Shirato, JPN | 69 | DNS | DNS | 69 | |||
| 12 | Taylor Charlton, AUS | DNS | 63 | DNS | 63 | |||
| 13 | Hsieh Jason, HKG | 58 | DNS | DNS | 58 | |||
| 14 | Michal Bucek, SVK | DNS | 58 | DNS | 58 | |||
| 15 | Barry Lee, MAS | DNS | 45 | DNS | 45 | |||
| PL | NAME | JPN | PHI | SAIPAN | AUS | NZL | MAS | TOT |
| 1 | Mieko Carey, USA | 100 | 82 | 90 | 272 | |||
| 2 | Lizzie Orchard, NZL | 90 | 100 | DNS | 190 | |||
| 3 | Carina Wasle, AUT | DNS | DNS | 100 | 100 | |||
| 4 | Jacqui Slack, GBR | DNS | 90 | DNS | 90 | |||
| 5 | Renata Bucher, SUI | DNS | DNS | 82 | 82 | |||
| 6 | Belinda Hadden, AUS | DNS | DNS | 75 | 75 |
2016 XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
XTERRA Saipan was the fourth of 37 events where the fastest amateur athletes from around the world could qualify to race at the 21st annual XTERRA World Championship at Kapalua, Maui on October 23.
| DATE | WORLD TOUR EVENT | LOCATION or WINNERS |
| 7-Feb | XTERRA Philippines | Brad Weiss/Lizzie Orchard |
| 21-Feb | XTERRA South Africa | Brad Weiss/Flora Duffy |
| 5-Mar | XTERRA Motatapu | Olly Shaw/Mary Gray |
| 12-Mar | XTERRA Saipan | Brodie Gardner/Carina Wasle |
| 20-Mar | XTERRA Costa Rica | Playa Reserva Conchal |
| 26-Mar | XTERRA Argentina | Dique Ullum, San Juan |
| 3-Apr | XTERRA Malta | Majjistral Nature Reserve |
| 16-Apr | XTERRA New Zealand | Rotorua, North Island |
| 17-Apr | XTERRA La Reunion | La Reunion Island |
| 23-Apr | XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship | Jervis Bay, NSW, Australia |
| 7-May | XTERRA Malaysia / XTERRA Asia-Pacific Tour Championship | Langkawi |
| 7-May | XTERRA Brazil | Ilhabela, São Paulo |
| 7-May | XTERRA Greece | Vouliagmeni |
| 14-May | XTERRA Tahiti | Papeete |
| 21-May | XTERRA Oak Mountain State Park | Pelham, Shelby County, AL, USA |
| 21-May | XTERRA Portugal | Golega |
| 11-Jun | XTERRA Belgium | Namur |
| 25-Jun | XTERRA Switzerland | Vallee de Joux |
| 25-Jun | XTERRA Mine over Matter | Milton, Ontario, Canada |
| 3-Jul | XTERRA France | Xonrupt |
| 10-Jul | XTERRA Victoria | Victoria, B.C., Canada |
| 16-Jul | XTERRA Beaver Creek | Beaver Creek, CO, USA |
| 23-Jul | XTERRA Parry Sound | Ontario, Canada |
| 31-Jul | XTERRA Italy | Lago Di Scanno |
| 31-Jul | XTERRA Dominican Republic | Barahona |
| 6-Aug | XTERRA Mexico | Tapalpa |
| 7-Aug | XTERRA Poland | Krakow |
| 13-Aug | XTERRA Sweden | Hellsgaarten, Stockholm |
| 14-Aug | XTERRA Canmore | Canmore, Alberta, Canada |
| 20-Aug | XTERRA Germany – XTERRA European Championship | Zittau |
| 27-Aug | XTERRA Sleeping Giant | Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada |
| 27-Aug | XTERRA Korea | Daeahn Reservoir, Wonju City |
| 3-Sep | XTERRA Japan | Hokkaido |
| 4-Sep | XTERRA Denmark | Mons Klint |
| 4-Sep | XTERRA Quebec | Quebec City, Quebec |
| 11-Sep | XTERRA Woolastook | New Brunswick, Canada |
| 17-Sep | XTERRA USA / Pan Am Championship | Ogden, Utah, USA |
| 23-Oct | XTERRA World Championship | Kapalua, Maui |