Weiss flashed superb mountain-biking skills in fire roads and rocky terrain on his way to ruling the 1.5K swim-40K mountain bike-10K trail run event last year in the first of three Xterra races slated at the Coco Palms Beach Resort and Cebu Technological U in Danao.
The 29-year-old ace from Stellenbosch, who also won another world title in Hawaii last year and vied in 12 other Xterra races spread across Asia, Europe and America, is actually gunning for a three-peat in Xterra Phl after likewise lording it over a tough international field in Albay in 2016.
But after besting New Zealand’s Sam Osborne by almost seven minutes last year, Weiss sees a stronger set of challengers this time and a tighter finish in what promises to be another grueling race in sweltering heat and punishing terrain.
Wasle, meanwhile, hopes to ride on her big victory last year that saw her end two previous heartbreakers on Xterra Phl with a dominating feat in the women’s pro division. She beat Penny Slater of Australia by almost 30 minutes.
Like Weiss, Wasle expects a tougher set of rivals this time but remains upbeat of her chances for a repeat in the event organized and produced by Sunrise Events, Inc. For details, visit www.danao.xterraphil.com or at facebook and twitter xterrasouthph.
Spicing up the full Xterra races (individual and relay) are 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.
Presented by the Province of Cebu and the City of Danao, Xterra Phl 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.