XTERRA TAHITI NUI !*
The Xterra Tahiti took place on Moorea Island in a gentle perfumed paradise. Mauricio Mendez, the young world champion has come to once again claim this victory, with Ben Allen, Sam Osborn, Christophe Betard and Cédric Wane who do not want to let him get away with it. But in the Garden of Eden, nothing went as planned…
* Xterra Tahiti Nui : The Xterra Tahiti is grand !
Text and photos : Franck Oddoux
Opunohu Beach: the Xterrians with their feet in the black sand receive benediction from a local wearing a leafy crown, whose body agitates this way and that in a multicolored outfit. The Tahitian ceremony moves to the rhythm of a conch shell played by a strapping tattooed well-sculpted Tahitian. At the frontline some of the Xterra elite are there, from all over the world, to participate in probably one of the most beautiful course routes on the world circuit. In the middle is a youth who looks like an over excited puppy, it’s Mauricio Mendez, the young 21 year old prodigy, the current Xterra world champion, crowned last year In Maui. Mexican and at the young age of 13 he was already a turning heads on this type of course. Today everyone agrees he’s world class due to his ease and natural style. Although the others aren’t there to be beaten by a kid: alongside him is the Australian, Ben Allen and number 3 in the world, the New Zealander Sam Osborne and his partner Jacqui Slack (GBR) who is also no stranger on the podiums. Christophe Betard stands out with his fabulous flowing beard. The world amateur champion (not for the beard…!) in 2015 knows he’s going to have to pull out all his mountain biking skills to keep up with the platform of elites battling for this title. Watch out for Cédric Wayne who’s a homeboy, he knows the course like the back of his hand. The air is vibrating with excitement, this is gonna be one hell of a race.
Mauricio Mendez out
All the competitors leave in boats to go to the middle of the magnificent Opunohu bay that is in cahoots with Cook’s bay.
Opunohu is known for being a nursery to Lemon Sharks…. It’s probably information you’d rather not hear just before entering into the crystal clear waters. Traditional pirogues and stand up paddlers encircle the swimmers. The Xterra merging with the Tahitian ocean culture: their children become watermen, naturally. The water, swimming, surfing and paddling are part of the fabric of being in Tahiti. A balance; a literal osmosis between a people and the ocean. This sounds like a publicity slogan but it reflects the genuine reality.
Almost as soon as the start line has been crossed a small group of swimmers move away from the rest of the group and dance off into the distance to the rhythm of the waves. The torpedo, Ben Allen, leaps out of the water in the lead, closely flanked by Sam Osborne, and Mauricio Mendez who is waiting for his moment to unleash the tiger in him. The Mexican unfortunately reaches the stand much earlier than predicted; due to a broken pedal: the shock against a rock has proven fatal. How to contain such rage at seeing his podium place escape with the wind. He finds his revenge the following morning when he takes the start line of the Papeete Trail 44km, that he wins whilst demolishing the record and at the same time leaving Guillaume Peretti standing, to watch his victory disappear into the ether. (Remember Guillaume is the one who broke Kilian Jornet’s record of the GR20 traverse in Corsica.)
What a dual!
Mauricio Mendez is out. Sam Osborne and Ben Allen are on center stage.
Shoulder to shoulder. What a dual! Same times for the swim and the MTB. Seat of your pants stuff! But the most amazing exploit was Christophe Betard, who came out the water in 21st position, did an average transition (47 seconds in the stands, when the leaders stay around 29 seconds), the young man from Les Voges whips off on his bike pedaling twice as fast as his compatriots and literally flies in the down hills to pull himself up to 3rd position! … But Osborn lets nothing go in the trail running section and scrapes back a minute over Allen and the game is over, Sam Osborne is victorious on the podium and Christophe Betard clips in third. Cédric Wane is not far behind for an amazing fourth position. Jacqui Allen smashes the women’s course with times that other male triathletes only dream of.
Welcome to the Garden of Eden
The Xterra Tahiti takes place in mesmerizing corner of paradise on Moorea Island. It’s a postcard dream world for outdoor sports, even more than a paradise: MTB, trail running, on land and out on the ocean, swimming, surfing, stand up paddle, pirogue, kite surfing, windsurfing… Reefs and lagoons are nature’s aquariums. You can swim, and yes there are sharks, but the risks are nothing like Reunion Island where the situation has degenerated due to the natural reserve (encouraging a proliferation of Bulldog sharks). The MTB course is esthetically the most beautiful in the circuit. Not highly technical, but rolling tracks that snake down into an ancient volcano. The single tracks weave in and out of pineapple plantations, lemon trees and grapefruit orchards, which are pure and simply gardens of Eden. The trail route is just as enchanting, especially the Chemin des Ancêtres. Steps up through the forest that brings you to the Marae, these are ancient meeting places where they gathered and are marked by great stone structures.
Polynesian Culture
They come here to battle for the Xterra in the hope of winning the Holy Grail, that famous qualification for entering the final of the world championships in Maui. But, we also come to Tahiti for the Polynesian culture, just that pure beauty of existence. These heavenly landscapes have bewitched many. Everywhere everyone is smiling, conversing with ease and honesty, a fluidity of human connection forgotten in our own lives. Also there is the hospitality: King Size! The Tahitians have hearts the size of elephants! A country where they call the mobile phones Vini (the name for a tiny bird), and to stop the bus you place a large leaf on the ground with a stone on it so the bus driver knows if he should stop or not, as you’ll be finding shade from the midday sun. Simplicity and poetry, a pure scent of happiness: this is Tahiti and Moorea.
Transamericana avec Rickey Gates
