It was a joyous return to the beautiful castle town of Hluboka nad Vltavou in southern Bohemia. The weather was perfect, the countryside gorgeous, the food, beer and people fantastic. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has read my reports since 2002 – the first Czech race. The organization and the setting are simply grand.

A nice change that went back to the early days was engineered with the town council and the finish came smack down the main street of this postcard town. The bike ended at T2 next to a 400-year-old church (and in front of “Dance Club Dizzy”) and both run laps went past a thousand appreciative fans.

The men’s race looked like a Maui World Champ lineup. Stoltz, Marceau, Lebrun, Batelier, Dietz, Schumann, Hugo, Kubicek, and more.

The women’s race was a bit short as Renata Bucher crashed in training, Eszter Erdelyi’s knee is still not right and Sibylle Matter was MIA. This left the race to Carina Wasle and Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer. And the two women fought it out. Anna came out of the water just 20 seconds ahead of Carina but in turn was down 30 seconds on upstart Nicola Duggan from the UK who was 3rd just last week. The two more experienced pro’s chased down Nicola and Baylis-Scheiderbauer used her mtb skills to put a minute up on the tiny Austrian Carina. The surprise here came from Czech pro Ivana Loubková who turned in the fastest bike over a minute quicker than Anna and took third from Duggan. The charge came on the run where the diminutive Wasle was better suited for the long climbs from town to the castle and chased down Scheiderbauer at the end of the first lap. From there things were steady with the Carina and Anna show followed by Ivana and Nicola and American Amber Monforte in 5th.

The men started with the big guns trading knockout blows. Italian pro Gianpetro De Faveri was again first out of the water, close behind Batelier, Stoltz, Marceau, Dietz, “Looey” Boonstra, Dan Hugo, Felix Schumann and Jim Thijs were tighter than Dave Nicholas when the dinner check comes.

Marceau, Stoltz, Schumann and Hugo put a slight gap on the rest but it soon came apart. Hugo flatted at about the 3-mile mark. Franky Batelier bridged up to the front pack with Czech pro Karel Zadak using his local knowledge to join the group as well. Marceau was the first to drop back. “I have been resting a bit from the Olympic qualifying season and my legs did not have it today” – Olivier is such a champion he never has an excuse. All the XTERRA Family will be watching Beijing as Olivier heads for his 3rd straight Olympic Triathlon.

Stoltz began feeling the backend getting loose and when he could chance a glance noticed his rear tire was soft. He stopped and quickly put more air in and with a typical Caveman charge headed back towards the front. Schumann had mechanical problems and also dropped of the lead. Now it was Batelier taking it up front and pulling away from everyone. Everyone that is, but Nico Lebrun. Never among the leaders in the swim, nobody should forget Lebrun is fast and fit and very strong this year. Zadak was magnificent coming all the way to 3rd ahead of some very stiff competition. Young Jim Thijs of Belgium continues to impress and was giving Ronny Dietz a very hard time leading the German into town and T2. Lebrun was just over a minute behind Batelier as the bike finished and the professor knew he was in the catbird seat. Franky was just recovering from a foot injury and had not run a lot prior to the Czech race and Nico knew it. Nico took the lead about halfway through the first lap and he knows how to keep a lead. Franky came home just 20 seconds later for a gutsy second and the crowd went nuts when Czech star Karel Zadak came home third ahead of Ronny Dietz who finally dispatched Thijs for 4th. What of Conrad and Marceau? Simply not their day as the two champs were 6th (Stoltz) and 9th (Marceau) after their problems.

That evening we were treated to three excellent Czech Rock-n-Roll bands inside the local pro hockey rink. And I mean these guys were good. Brass sections, great guitar players and if you have never heard Honky Tonk Woman in Czech – it is worth the trip alone.

As usual the true hundreds of year old Budweiser flowed cold and frothy. I cannot think of an after party where the free beer never ends – but it happened Sunday night. So a great venue – I mean where can you run on cinder paths alongside one of the most picturesque castles in the world or bike inside the King’s old game preserve with deer, sheep and wild boar watching you? Not very many places.

While the Czech economy is doing very, very well it still remains a great value. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – this must be on your “to do” list.

XTERRA Czech Championship
Hluboka, Czech Republic
Sunday, June 29, 2008
1.2km S/35km B/11km R

Men's Results
1. Nicolas Lebrun (FRA) 2:13:46
2. Franky Batelier (FRA) 2:14:07
3. Karal Zadak (CZE) 2:15:15
4. Ronny Dietz (GER) 2:16:54
5. Jim Thijs (BEL) 2:17:39

Women's Results
1. Carina Wasle (AUT) 2:37:13
2. Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer (AUS) 2:42:14
3. Ivana Loubkova (CZE) 2:43:23
4. Nicola Duggan (GBR) 2:49:31
5. Amber Monforte (USA) 2:50:35