Bucher: It’s not just about winning

Swiss pro triathlete Renata Bucher, winner of the last four XTERRA Saipan Championship, admits she always returns to Saipan not only because she keeps on winning here but because she loves the course.

Bucher also said the social atmosphere makes Saipan the best place of all the races in the XTERRA Global Tour.

“This place is always safe for me,” she says adding that she can go around and see people smiling all the time.

“It’s nice to see them again,” she said.

During a meeting with Taga Inc. president Wolf Mojica at the DFS conference Room last Saturday afternoon, Bucher and three other pro triathletes talked not only about their chances for the race and the tough course but also how they feel about the people on Saipan.

They said that it’s here where they experienced a different kind of hospitality unlike in other XTERRA venues where they just go there for the sake of competition.

Bucher and fellow Swiss Jim McConnel and Julie Dibens and Sam Gardner of Great Britain are staying with their sponsors’ homes during the course of the their training until the end of the competition.

XTERRA Saipan is scheduled on April 18 and the Tagaman is on April 25.

“The people are super friendly. Unlike in other places where you focus on the race, there are so many things to do here. You get a lot of greetings from the people along the road even you are on the bike,” Bucher said.

Gardner, for his part, said he enjoys eating with the people and always looks forward to socializing with them.

“Every single person you meet, it seems they know me. I’m very relaxed because everyone is happy. Everyone is waving at you,” Gardner observes.

They rode to their bikes Friday morning as they joined people going up and down Mount Tapochau in observance of Lent.

Gardner and McConnel said that aside from the positive atmosphere, they also enjoy the fantastic weather.

“There’s no better place in the world like the beautiful beaches here,” he said.

Asked about her chances against Dibens, Bucher says she always has a great chance of course “but it’s not between the two of us.”

“I just don’t race against Julie. Besides there are other competitors. I just love to race on Saipan,” she said.

Bucher won XTERRA Saipan from 2005 to 2008.

Dibens, who placed second in 2007, won the Tagaman as well as the PIC Double during the year. She did not compete last year.

Dibens begged off from competing this time in the Tagaman because of an earlier commitment in another event in Florida. She has won the XTERRA World Championship in Maui the past two years.

Before arriving on Saipan, Dibens extended her mastery of Bucher by winning in the Guam XTERRA earlier this month.

Gardner won the men’s division in Guam, while McConnel was second.

“I was second due to the smaller number of competitors,” he said.

On Saipan, they will be tackling the likes of Mike Vine from Canada and defending champion Andrew Noble of Australia.

Vine won the inaugural event in 2002 and is coming back for the first time since his victory. He just came off from winning the 2008 U.S. XTERRA.

Noble is the winner of the last two Tagaman races as well as the PIC Double.