The very talented Non Stanford stormed to her first ITU World Triathlon Series win in Madrid, Spain with German Anne Haug in second place and fellow Brit Jodie Stimpson on the final podium spot.
Spain's Caroline Routier was first out of the water in 18:56 and she had Sarah Groff, Alice Betto, Pamela Oliveira and Nicky Samuels for company.
Nicky Samuels and Sarah Groff worked hard on the bike to keep the other challengers at bay, but a hard driving Anne Haug who had exited the water in 20:35 first reeled in the main chase pack and eventually helped those chasers to catch the leaders. After a hard 40k outing ten athletes reached the bike-run transition together, with most pre-race favorites there but for series leader Gwen Jorgensen.
Stanford immediately pulled away from the others during the run and
no one really challenged her the rest of the way. After a 34:29 race best run Stanford crossed the line in first place in 2:04:39 and with that win earned her first ITU World Triathlon Series title.
"The plan was to go off really hard in the run which I did," said Stanford. "And I'm not going to lie, in the second lap of the run I thought 'oh no, I've gone off far too hard'. But I managed to hold it together and I could see the gap increasing which gives you confidence and I managed to hold on. I'm not sure how but I'm absolutely pooped now."
Anne Haug also had a superb race and managed to pull away from fellow Darren Smith squad athlete Jodie Stimpson for the runner-up spot. Stimpson held on to third place and that surely made British Triathlon happy.
American Gwen Jorgensen finished fourth and thus retained her lead in the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series.
ITU World Triathlon Series Madrid
Madrid, Spain / June 1, 2013
1.5k swim / 40k bike / 10k run
Top women
1. Non Stanford (GBR) 2:04:39
2. Anne Haug (GER) 2:05:05
3. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 2:05:14
4. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 2:05:44
5. Felicity Abram (AUS) 2:05:54
6. Juri Ide (JAP) 2:06:16
7. Sarah Groff (USA) 2:06:26
8. Anja Knapp (GER) 2:06:32
9. Danne Boterenbrood (NED) 2:06:35
10. Jessica Harrison (FRA) 2:6:42
