Richard Murray of South Africa kicked past all rivals with a race-best 14:25 5k run split to defend his title at the Cape Town World Cup.

Murray finished in 52:15 with a 24 seconds margin of victory over countryman and Olympic bronze medal finisher Henri Schoeman and 43 seconds over 3rd place finisher Lukas Pertl of Austria.

Murray and Schoeman thus repeated their 2017 1-2 finish, albeit in slower times than last year’s 51:33 and 51:41 results.

Murray emerged from the swim in the midst of a 16-man first pack led by Schoeman (8:12), Christophe de Keyser of Belgium (8:20), Jonas Schomburg of Germany (8:22), Marco Van der Stel of Netherlands (8:23), Schachar Sagiv of Israel (8:25), Murray and Lukas Pertl of Austria (8:29), and Valentin Wernz of Germany (8:31).

Murray lost time with a bungled wetsuit removal, while Schoeman led a breakaway 16.

After two laps of the bike leg, Van der Stel took the lead of a reduced 11-man group. Leaving T2, Schomburg led the field, followed closely by Israel’s Sachar Sagiv and Itamar Alster.

Once on the run, Murray quickly swept past all challengers, with Schoeman and Pertl struggling to stay in touch. After his race-leading 14:25 5k run - 23 seconds better than Schoeman - Murray cruised to his victory in the same form that rewarded him with a 2nd and two 3rd place finishes on the 2017 WTS circuit and a victory at the first Super League Invitational Triathlon in March.

Cape Town World Cup
Cape Town, South Africa
February 11, 2018
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k

Elite Men Results

1. Richard Murray (RSA) 52:15 - $7500
2. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 52:39 - $6000
3. Lukas Pertl (AUT) 52:49 - $4500
4. Schachar Sagiv (ISR) 53:02 - $3000
5. Lukas Hollaus (AUT) 53:08 - $2100
6. Marco Van Der Stel (NED) 53:09 - $1800
7. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon (ESP) 53:12- $1500
8. Valentin Wernz (GER) 53:13 - $1200
9. Grant Sheldon (GBR) 53:14 - $900
10. Bob Haller (LUX) 53:20 - $675
43. Robby Webster (USA) 57:35
DQ Tony Smoragiewicz (USA)