My fiancée Natalie and I journeyed up there for
the weekend to see how it's done, ITU style.
Turned out the perfect day for the men and
women's elite events. A forecasted 25 degrees.
The woman’s race launched at 7:36am and the
result did not disappoint local fans. Erin Densham rode her solid form to a win
ahead of Helen Jenkins and Andrea Hewitt in third.
Much to my disappointment I did not get to see
Paula Findlay, but there was plenty of excitement and the series is certain to
be a tight contest.
Apart from an early push on the swim leg by Mariko
Adachi, the group was hard to split until the run leg. Slowly the competitors
fell away to leave a lead group of 6. Densham paced the group and slowly
dropped Adachi, Laura Bennett, Ainhoa Murua and eventually Andrea Hewitt.
Hewitt hung on for third as Densham made her move and dropped Jenkins to win on
home soil and stake her claim for an Olympic spot.
The men’s race was up for grabs with the
Brownlees and Javier Gomez missing from the line up.
The Russian athletes started strong and were out
to make a statement. Not only were series points up for grabs, most athletes
were competing for spots on their nations Olympic team. Having only until May
31st to prove themselves, competition was fierce.
Ivan Vasiliev broke away with James Elvery hot
on his heels as they built a one-minute lead.
They were slowly pulled back in by the chase
group, but maintained a good buffer on the chase until the second last lap of
the run.
Richard Murray and Laurent Vidal passed and were left to
work towards the finish and looked to have timed their races well, though
starting his run at the 6km mark was Steffen Justus, who came home too strong
and took the series opener.
First of the Australians home was Chris McCormack
in 34th, as he pushes for Olympic selection in a return to Olympic distance
triathlons.
Overall a great event and will be a permanent fixture on the calendar. May also have to join in the fun and compete in the age group race in future years.
For more detailed race reports visit ITU
ironmanintraining :)
No comments:
Post a Comment