Bevan Docherty sat out the ITU World Championship finals in Budapest Hungry but showed with his win at the 2010 LA Triathlon that he hasn't lost a step. Lisa Norden used a dominating bike split to grab the women's title and her time of 57:39 was actually 9th fastest among all Pros.
The men
Quite a strong field was at the start of the Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon and that included 2010 Dextro Energy ITU World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain. The race also saw the return to racing of Jordan Rapp who was terribly injured earlier this year in a hit and run accident.
Gomez had a very nice swim and beat all the other male Pros out of the water. Right on his heels though was a pack of guys led by Cameron Dye and Bevan Docherty.
Andrew Starykowicz who also had a strong swim quickly jumped into the lead on the bike and his time of 53:25 proved to be best on the day. Dye and Docherty were next to reach T2, 1:30 and 2:00 respectively behind the fast riding Starykowicz. Gomez on the other hand despite a solid ride was looking to make up more than 3.5 minutes to catch the leading American.
Docherty then clocked a 33:40 run split that was 2.5 minutes faster than the time of Starykowicz and with slightly faster transitions he had a 46 second lead at the end to take the win. But Starykowicz wasn't his only worry. Gomez recorded the fastest run on the day with 31:57 split and closed in to within 13 seconds by the time he hit the finishline. But today that effort of Gomez was only good for second place. Starykowicz held on to third place.
"After 3 dnf's in the WCS I had to listen to my body. I knew I wouldn't be competitive in Budapest and I don't enter races if I don't believe I have a chance," said Docherty to slowtwitch. "Los Angeles was a great way to extend the season, as finishing up in September would have been too early. I really didn't expect to win especially with Gomez in the race, but it goes to show what a small break can do. Great for the confidence as well. Old guys can do it, it's not over yet..."
The women
The Pro women started 5 minutes after the men and Sara McLarty made quick work of the swim. Laura Bennett and Lisa Norden were about a minute behind her.
McLarty's lead didn't last very long despite riding reasonably strong. Norden was flying along as soon she jumped on her bike and she crushed the time of all her fellow competitors and a good bunch of the male Pros. By the time she reached the second transition she had 2 minutes on McLarty and even more on the rest of the field.
"I wanted to prove a bit of a point, that ITU athletes actually can ride a bike... I think I nailed that one in today," said Norden after the race.
From there the Swede cruised to an easy win in a time of 1:59:40. McLarty held on to second place and Bennett took the final podium place.
"It took a while to find my legs out on the run and it wasn't until the 2nd lap that I started to feel better," said Norden. "Much thanks to the hill I started to get the cadence up and a better forward lean. The hill is a bit of a bastard but sometimes it really forces you to get that rhythm. It's a bit weird to have that big of a lead. I'm used to having to sprint for anything between 1st and 6th, so cruising in with 6 minutes to spare is big time luxury!"
Related image gallery
A 2010 Kaiser Permanente LA Triathlon gallery
Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Triathlon
Los Angeles, CA / October 3, 2010
Top 10 men
1. Bevan Docherty (NZL) 1:50:21
2. Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:50:34
3. Andrew Starykowicz (USA) 1:51:06
4. Greg Bennett (USA) 1:51:37
5. Filip Ospaly (CZE) 1:52:36
6. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:53:48
7. Matt Reed (USA) 1:55:39
8. Kyle Leto (USA) 1:55:41
9. Clark Ellice (NZL) 1:56:32
10. Joe Maloy (USA) 1:56:52
Top 10 women
1. Lisa Norden (SWE) 1:59:40
2. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:05:41
3. Lara Bennett (USA) 2:07:14
4. Nicole Hofer (SUI) 2:07:57
5. Pip Taylor (AUS) 2:09:27
6. Heather Jackson (USA) 2:14:16
7. Jenny Fletcher (CAN) 2:17:14
8. Brianna Blanchard (USA) 2:20:43
9. Jennifer Tetrick (USA) 2:23:04
10. Carly Johann (USA) 2:24:50 * Elite
