Three Aussies named Emma swept the top three spots at the 2011 Dextro Energy WCS race in Hamburg Germany. Emma Moffat was first, Emma Jackson second and Emma Snowsill third.
With Paula Findlay not at the start it was quite certain that a new series leader would emerge after this event and there were quite a few athletes here willing to take over the #1 plate. Temperatures during the afternoon start were right around 22 degrees Celsius (71 degrees Fahrenheit) and the water was a mellow 19.5 and made this race wetsuit legal, just as the men's race had been yesterday.
Brit Lucy Hall in her first WCS start showed her swimming prowess and led the field throughout and exited the Binnenalster in 18:21. Line Jensen was next out of the water 9 seconds later leading a pack that included Barbara Riveros Diaz and surprisingly also featured Emma Snowsill and Nicola Spirig, who both had great swims.
Once on the bike though Hall made no attempt to stay away. The young Brit cruised along patiently and awaited the front group to catch her. Andrea Hewitt and Emma Moffatt had started the bike a few seconds after the Snowsill group but it did not take very long for these athletes to come together and now a pack of 35 was riding up front containing pretty much all of the favorites. Notably absent were Emmie Charayron, Kate Roberts and Kerry Lang. Those athletes were in another bunch that also included Jillian Petersen and Gwen Jorgensen, but as the race progressed that group lost more and more time even though the front group really didn't seem to push the pace that hard other than an occasional flurry to capture the Specialized bike preem. As it was, the front bunch of 35 reached the bike-run transition together led by Erin Densham and the chasing group got there more than 2 minutes later.
After a quick transition Spaniard Ainhoa Murua and Moffatt charged out onto the run followed by Riveros-Diaz. Snowsill had a bit slower transition together with fellow Aussie Emma Jackson, but they moved quickly past other competitors and caught up to the front group led by Moffatt in no time at all. The group also contained Densham, Riveros Diaz, Murua and Jodie Stimpson, and that now made for 4 Aussies in the leading group of 8.
Densham though soon after got dropped and Stimpson was next to fall off the pace. Snowsill moved to the front and that also put Murua and Riveros Diaz in difficulty, leaving the three Aussie Emmas and one Kiwi Andrea to fight it out for the win. At the 6k mark of the run Moffatt started to really put on the afterburners and the 4 front-runners started to spread out with Snowsill running in second position, Hewitt in third and Jackson in fourth. Hewitt and Jackson caught back up to Snowsill shortly after but Moffat seemed to just have faster legs on the day. Moffat stormed to the win and Jackson outsprinted Snowsill for second place, making this a fantastic Australian sweep and with Brad Kahlefeldt's win yesterday a perfect race weekend.
"Usually its a few steps with her (Snowsill) and then she is gone, but today I thought I would try to match her and obviously I could do that for a little bit and then I kind of felt strong on the third lap so I tried to push it and I guess that's where I kind of made my break," said Moffatt. "I'm really happy with my performance, but also the other Emmas as well."
Riveros Diaz finished in 5th place right behind Hewitt and took over the points lead in the 2011 Dextro Energy World Championship Series.
Dextro Energy WCS Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany / July 17, 2011
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top women
1. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:53:37
2. Emma Jackson (AUS) 1:53:44
3. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 1:53:44
4. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 1:53:59
5. Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) 1:54:32
6. Ainhoa Murua (ESP) 1:54:33
7. Erin Densham (AUS) 1:54:43
8. Danne Boterenbrood (NED) 1:54:49
9. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 1:54:50
10. Svenja Bazlen (GER) 1:54:52
Dextro Energy WCS leaders
1. Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) 2497
2. Paula Findlay (CAN) 2400
3. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2317
4. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 2016
