Intense overnight rains caused massive mudslides which forced the ITU to cut a planned Olympic distance World Cup race to a sprint distance in Guatape, which is located in a mountainous region of Colombia.
When the racing was done, Etienne Diemunsch of France finished first in 57:15 and topped Crisanto Grajales of Mexico by 7 seconds, with Tony Moulai of France taking 3rd, four seconds back of Grajales.
Carole Peon of France won the women’s race in 1:04:11 and prevailed by 19 seconds over runner-up Tomoko Sakimoto of Japan, who was 7 seconds ahead of third place Zurine Rodriguez of Spain.
In a men’s race filled with many top Americans, the results were disappointing for most. Most encouraged had to be Manuel Huerta, whose come-from behind 15:47 run outsprinted the highly rated Matt Chrabot by one second for 9th place in a time of 57:43.
They were followed by fellow USA competitors Gregory Billington (16th in 58:07), Mark Fretta (17th in 58:16), Ethan Brown (24th in 58:34), Jarrod Shoemaker (31st in 59:01 – with 3rd-fastest 15:33 run), Brian Fleischmann (40th in 1:00:36), Kevin Collington (45th in 1:01:32), and Andy Potts (48th in 1:04:11).
For Potts, his recently revived desire to try for the 2012 US men’s Olympic triathlon team must have taken a hit in his first attempt to gain qualifying points. While Potts emerged from the swim a decent fourth in 9:09, his 34:53 split on the ultra-hilly bike was 5:47 off the leaders, (reportedly hindered by a flat) and his 16:49 run was 1:19 off the best of the day.
In the women’s race, Carole Peon of France had a tight duel with Sakimoto as her tied-for-6th-best 9:55 swim put seven seconds on Sakimoto and her 2:40 time in T2 was another second faster. Sakimoto’s 2nd-best 32:56 bike brought her to within 2 seconds of Peon, but Sakimoto surrendered another three seconds to Peon in the final transition. Peon put her stamp on the race with a second-best 18:08 5k run that contributed another 14 seconds to her margin of victory.
Lindsey Jerdonek of the United States took 26th place of 38 finishers with a time of 1:06:43.
Guatape ITU Triathlon World Cup
Guatape, Colombia
November 6, 2011
S 750m / B 20 k / R 5k
Women
1. Carole Peon (FRA) 1:04:11
2. Tomoko Sakimoto (JPN) 1:04:30
3. Zurine Rodriquez (ESP) 1:03:37
4. Margit Vanek (HUN) 1:04:41
5. Agnieszka Jerzyk (POL) 1:04:44
6. Alexandra Razarenova (RUS) 1:04:44
7. Lisa Perterer (AUT) 1:04:45
8. Vicky Holland (GBR) 1:04:57
9. Carlyn Fischer (RSA) 1:05:05
10. Maria Czesnik (POL) 1:05:12
25. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 1:06:43
Results for Men
1. Etienne Diemunsch (FRA) 57:15
2. Crisanto Grajales (MEX) 57:22
3. Tony Moulai (FRA) 57:26
4. Jose Miguel Perez (ESP) 57:30
5. Carlos Javier Quincharo Forero (COL) 57:33
6. Juraci Moreira (BRA) 57:37
7. Ivan Rana (ESP) 57:40
8. Miguel Angel Fidalgo (ESP) 57:42
9. Manuel Huerta (USA) 57:43
10. Matt Chrabot (USA) 57:44
13. Kris Gemmell (NZL) 57:59
16. Gregory Billington (USA) 58:07
17. Mark Fretta (USA) 58:16
24. Ethan Brown (USA) 58:34
31. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA)
40. Brian Fleischmann (USA) 1:00:36
45. Kevin Collington (USA) 1:01:32
48. Andy Potts (USA) 1:04:11
