Weiss rules ‘hottest, hardest’ Xterra Danao

South African Bradley Weiss and Carina Wasle of Austria tackle the punishing bike stage en route to topping their respective sides in XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon in Danao, Cebu Sunday.

DANAO, Cebu — Bradley Weiss pulled off a title repeat after ruling Xterra Off Road Triathlon Danao on a scorching Sunday morning here.

Weiss clocked in at three hours and 16 seconds, overcoming what he claimed as the toughest race he’s ever been in.

“I’ve been racing for six years now professionally all over the world and this was the hardest and hottest race I’ve ever done,” said Weiss, who bent down and had his hands on his knees in exhaustion shortly after crossing the finish line.

The 26-year-old Weiss finished third min the swim behind Ben Allen and Sam Osborne but the South African champion picked up the pace in the bike and run.

“As you can see the way Sam finished today, I knew it was going to be a super long race, really hard and really hot so I was happy to go conservatively in the swimming and let them go,” said Weiss.

“And I caught them pretty quickly on the bike. I didn’t feel great starting the bike but once I got into a rhythm, I managed to ride very well,” Weiss, who edged Allen in Xterra Albay in 2015, recalled. “And once I caught to them, I wasn’t really really sure if I’m going to attack but I saw I was stronger than them on the climb so I got away in the first lap.”

It wasn’t a perfect run for Weiss, who said he made a couple of errors that almost cost him his lead.

But he recovered and was able to finish strong.

“Starting the second lap, I just put the hammer down because I know how much of a strong runner Sam is so I just went for it and gain as much gap as I could get,” he said.

Osborne came in seven minutes and 33 seconds later than Weiss. He needed medical attention right away.

Kieran Mcpherson, who wound up in third with a time of 3:34:27, also had to be assisted by the medic due to the extreme heat.

Local bet Joe Miller was in sixth after needing three hours, 52 minutes and four seconds to finish.

Miller said he was pleased with the result, expecting he would complete the course longer than his actual time.

Allen salvaged fourth place despite overcoming a flat tire thrice during the course of the 40-kilometer bike.

“I just didn’t want to give up,” said Allen. “I still consider this an achievement because I was able to finish the race.”

Rounding out the top five was Will Kelsay, who finished the race with a time of three hours, 50 minutes and 48 seconds.

Carina Walse of Austria topped the female pro category after clocking in four hours, seven minutes and 49 seconds.

Jacqui Slack Allen, wife of Ben, wasn’t able to finish the race due to dehydration.