[Robert G.]

Lake Tahoe, Nevada (September 28, 2003) - At the sports "true" National Championships, Xterra triathletes from all over the country earned the right to battle for the right to be called just that, National Champions. But among all of the athletes in attendance, two athletes, 5-time Xterra World Champion and defending Xterra USA Champion Conrad Stolrz and Ironman Champion and ex-pro mountain biker Steve Larsen , stole the show.

After exiting the chaotic swim two minutes down on the defending Champion, Larsen went to work on the opening climb. Getting into his rhythm quickly Larsen reduced Stoltz's lead to 20 seconds at the top of the climb. "The opening climb wasn't steep or long enough for me to do any serious damage", said Larsen "and I didn't actually make contact with the leaders until just before the second big climb".

During that climb Larsen drew in front of Stoltz by two minutes only to have his lead almost cut in half after the downhill style descent into T2. Once on the run it was Stotlz turn to make up the deficit, and at the 4 km mark he made his move. Larsen who has been focusing on Ironman Hawaii said, "Conrad just had an extra gear. When he surged, I knew I would pay for my Ironman run training which had reduced me to one speed today." At the finish line, Stoltz's time of 2:35.10 was only 33 seconds ahead of Larsen in what the World champion called "the hardest race he has ever done".

With only four weeks left until the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, Larsen who has used three of the Xterra Series races as part of his Ironman preparation said, "I always race to win, but I am still very happy to have had the opportunity to come and race against the best in world, and walk away with the National Title. Hopefully I have pushed some of the other athletes to their own best performances along the way."


2003 Nissan Xterra USA Championship. Lake Tahoe, Nevada. September 28. 1.5km S / 32km B / 10km R.

Men: 1. Conrad Stotlz (SA), 2:35:10; 2. Steve Larsen (USA), 2:35:43; 3. Nicolas LeBrun (Fra), 2:40:35, 4. Tyler Johnson (USA), 2:42:14, 5. Andrew Noble (USA), 2:43:43.