Swiss Pro Nicola Spirig out-sprinted Sweden's Lisa Norden to take the win at the 2012 ITU Kitzbühel World Triathlon Series event in 2:05:37. Kiwi Andrea Hewitt rounded out the podium in this beautiful Austrian town.
Of last year's podium only Sarah Groff was at the start, but the field was loaded with talent just the same. Jessica Harrison and Vicky Holland led the bunch after the first lap of the swim, and those two athletes were near the front at the end of the swim too, but it was Sarah Groff who emerged first from the water in 19:34. Most of the field was still together tough, with only a small group separated by a gap of 10 seconds or so.
A speedy transition helped twelve athletes to take an early lead on the bike, and in the group were Andrea Hewitt, Debbie Tanner, Nicola Spirig, Nicky Samuels, Kate McIlroy, Lisa Norden, Anja Knapp, Alice Betto, Jodie Stimpson, Groff, Harrison and Holland. A group of five that included Melanie Annaheim, Anja Dittmer, Mariya Shorets, Alexandra Razarenova and Barbara Riveros Diaz managed to join the leaders while all other chasers drifted further and further away. Betto encountered a mechanical problem and dropped out of the race, and Holland also fell out of that bunch and that meant the front group now contained fifteen athletes. Their advantage grew to well over 2 minutes and the most notable folks in that chasing bunch of seventeen were Aileen Morrison, Gwen Jorgensen, Ashleigh Gentle, Carole Peon and Vanessa Raw. With a $5,000 Specialized bike prime (pronounced "preem") hanging in the air, Annaheim made a small breakaway with a few kilometers to go, but with fellow Swiss Pro Spirig trying to join her, that effort was quickly nullified and all fifteen women reached the bike-run transition together. A slight slowing of the pace during the last 6k of the bike though had allowed the chasers to come off the bike only 90 seconds down. As for that Specialized prime, since the group reaching transition was larger than six athletes it will now roll over to the next race.
Out on the run Spirig, Groff, Norden, Riveros Diaz, Harrison and Hewitt got an early gap and pulled away from the others. With about 3k to go Groff dropped from the lead group and now five women were competing for the podium spots. A bit further back young Aussie Ashleigh Gentle was running extremely well and had moved herself into 12th position 55 seconds down with 2.5k to go. With about 1k to go Harrison could no longer keep up with the leaders and now the pace really picked up. Norden then accelerated hard and only Spirig could stay with her as they were approaching the finishline, but a final surge by Nicola Spirig allowed the Swiss Pro to move past the Swede and take the win in 2:05:37. Lisa Norden held on to second place and Andrea Hewitt finished third.
"I had a good rhythm and I could run with a group of six and I knew I had a really fast sprint, so I wasn't the one who had to make the pace, I could sit in and wait for the sprint and it worked so I'm really happy," said Spirig.
But the best runs of the day belonged to Gentle and Jorgensen. Gentle's 34:29 run propelled her into 10th place, while American Gwen Jorgensen with the same split finished a second behind her in 11th place.
ITU Kitzbühel WTS
Kitzbühel, Austria / June 23, 2012
1.5k swim / 44k* bike / 10k run
Top women
1. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 2:05:37
2. Lisa Norden (SWE) 2:05:40
3. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2:05:43
4. Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) 2:05:45
5. Jessica Harrison (FRA) 2:05:57
6. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:06:07
7. Sarah Groff (USA) 2:06:20
8. Kate McIlroy (NZL) 2:06:23
9. Anja Dittmer (GER) 2:06:47
10. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS) 2:06:49
* The bike segment in Austria is slightly longer.
