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Learmonth earned the first WTS podium of her career, taking a silver medal 1:21 behind Duffy and 12 seconds ahead of hard-charging Ashleigh Gentle of Australia.
Starting the run with a 2:52 lead on Gentle, Duffy ran 34:45 to take the win. Learmonth ran 36:05 to secure the runner-up slot and Gentle ran a sizzling-fast, race-best 33:27 10k to advance from 15th place and 2:52 back to take the bronze.
With her victory, Duffy will arrive in the WTS Grand Final in Rotterdam three weeks hence with a perfect season score of 4,000 points, 500 points ahead of Gentle. With that lead, Duffy simply needs to finish 7th or better at Rotterdam to guarantee her second straight WTS World Title.
“I was very happy today,” said Duffy. “I had a very solid race. My swim was a little shaky so I was happy to come out of the water third and make a break on the bike.”
“I can't believe it,” said Learmonth. “I had to work extremely hard to stay with Flora on the bike. I was sorry to hear about Katie [Zaferes, the U.S. competitor who crashed hard on lap three while riding with Duffy and Learmonth on the breakaway]. Riding with Flora was kind of hairy going so fast on the corners on a technical, hard course. I was very concerned about Ashleigh – she had a phenomenal run and kept getting closer every lap. I was delighted to get second place.”
“I had a really bad swim,” said Gentle. “The packs split up and it was hard to get back. While I was 2 and a half minutes back after the bike, I knew I had a chance to get a good result of I could stick with it.”
SWIM
Jodie Stimpson made a false start off the pontoon and was assessed a 15 seconds penalty. Brits Lucy Hall and Jessica Learmonth lead the field in 19:09 and 19:12, followed closely by Flora Duffy (+4s), Katie Zaferes (+5s), Alice Betto of Italy (+11s), Natalie Coevorden of Australia (+14s), Stimpson (+16s – plus a 15 seconds penalty). Then came U.S. competitors Taylor Spivey (+17s) and Kirsten Kasper (+20s). Significantly, Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand and Ashleigh Gentle of Australia emerged from the swim in 25th and 26th places, 1:16 to 1:18 behind the leader.
BIKE
Starting the run with a 2:52 lead on Gentle, Duffy ran 34:45 to take the win. Learmonth ran 36:05 to secure the runner-up slot and Gentle ran a sizzling-fast, race-best 33:27 10k to advance from 15th place and 2:52 back to take the bronze.
With her victory, Duffy will arrive in the WTS Grand Final in Rotterdam three weeks hence with a perfect season score of 4,000 points, 500 points ahead of Gentle. With that lead, Duffy simply needs to finish 7th or better at Rotterdam to guarantee her second straight WTS World Title.
“I was very happy today,” said Duffy. “I had a very solid race. My swim was a little shaky so I was happy to come out of the water third and make a break on the bike.”
“I can't believe it,” said Learmonth. “I had to work extremely hard to stay with Flora on the bike. I was sorry to hear about Katie [Zaferes, the U.S. competitor who crashed hard on lap three while riding with Duffy and Learmonth on the breakaway]. Riding with Flora was kind of hairy going so fast on the corners on a technical, hard course. I was very concerned about Ashleigh – she had a phenomenal run and kept getting closer every lap. I was delighted to get second place.”
“I had a really bad swim,” said Gentle. “The packs split up and it was hard to get back. While I was 2 and a half minutes back after the bike, I knew I had a chance to get a good result of I could stick with it.”
SWIM
Jodie Stimpson made a false start off the pontoon and was assessed a 15 seconds penalty. Brits Lucy Hall and Jessica Learmonth lead the field in 19:09 and 19:12, followed closely by Flora Duffy (+4s), Katie Zaferes (+5s), Alice Betto of Italy (+11s), Natalie Coevorden of Australia (+14s), Stimpson (+16s – plus a 15 seconds penalty). Then came U.S. competitors Taylor Spivey (+17s) and Kirsten Kasper (+20s). Significantly, Andrea Hewitt of New Zealand and Ashleigh Gentle of Australia emerged from the swim in 25th and 26th places, 1:16 to 1:18 behind the leader.
BIKE
