Emma Pallant of Great Britain defended her 2015 elite title and Richard Murray of South Africa won his first elite gold at the ITU Duathlon World Championship in Avilés, Spain.
Women
Pallant hung with a lead pack of 5 women on the opening 10k run leg and the 40km bike leg, then jetted away from the pack on the final 5k run leg with a race-best 17:54 split that was 8 seconds better than her nearest rival. Pallant finished in 1:56:45 and earned $8,750 with a 7 seconds advantage on silver medalist Andrea Steyn of South Africa (18:02 run) and 32 seconds on bronze medalist Margarita Garcia Cañellas of Spain (18:22 run).
Pallant, a world class runner who took up triathlon in 2012, won the Windsor Triathlon in 2013 and the Great Britain National Duathlon Championship in 2014. In 2015 she was 10th at WTS Cape Town, 5th at the Challenge Brazil half, and won the ITU World Duathlon Championship.
Since her triathlon debut, Pallant has been coached by Michelle Dillon, who came out of elite retirement to finish 11th at Aviles.
Men
Murray stayed in the middle of a 9-man pack that cruised through the opening 10k run within 2 seconds of leader Moussa Karich of Bahrain. Murray rode a 2nd–best 54:47 split within the same pack on the 40k bike leg before unleashing a men’s second-best 16:07 5k run that was 16 seconds better than his nearest pursuer. Murray finished in 1:42:18 to earn the $8,750 top prize with a 17 seconds margin of victory over Emilio Martin of Spain and 24 seconds ahead of 3rd-place finisher Jorik Van Egdom of Netherlands.
Seth Totten of the USA stayed with the 9-man lead pack through the bike leg, and then ran 16:39 to take 4th place, 37 seconds behind the winner. Benjamin Choquert of France ran with the lead pack on the opening run, gave up one minute on the bike leg, and then posted a race-best 15:56 run to take 5th, 49 seconds behind the winner.
Murray, one of the Olympic medal favorites, broke his collarbone at WTS Gold Coast on April 10. “I was out of the triathlon races for a few weeks,” he said. “When I was looking at the calendar to see when I could come back to action, the World Champs in Avilés looked like the perfect match. I started my career as a duathlete and then moved to triathlon, so I hadn´t race duathlons since a long time.”
In 2015, Murray won ITU World Cups in Cozumel and New Plymouth and took 3rd at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Chicago. Before his crash, Murray won the New Plymouth World Cup and took 2nd at the WTS season opener in Abu Dhabi.
ITU Duathlon Worlds
Avilés, Spain
June 4, 2016
R10k / B 40k / R 5k
Results
Elite Women
1. Emma Pallant (GBR) 1:56:45
2. Andrea Steyn (RSA) 1:56:52
3. Margarita Garcia Cañellas (ESP) 1:57:17
4. Lisa Sieburger (GER) 1:57:46
5. Sandrina Illes (AUT) 1:57:48
6. Giorgia Priarone (ITA) 2:00:45
7. Ana Filipa Santos (POR) 2:01:57
8. Julie Chuberre-Dode (FRA) 2:02:06
9. Lesley Smit (NED) 2:02:25
10. Ilsa Geldhof (BEL) 2:03:02
11. Michelle Dillon (GBR) 2:03:22
Elite Men
1. Richard Murray (RSA) 1:42:18
2. Emilio Martin (ESP) 1:42:35
3. Jorik Van Egdom (NED) 1:42:41
4. Seth Totten (USA) 1:42:55
5. Benjamin Choquert (FRA) 1:43:07
6. Moussa Karich (BRN) 1:43:22
7. Sergey Yakovlev (RUS) 1:43:23
8. Benoit Nicolas (FRA) 1:43:42
9. Yohan La Berre (FRA) 1:45:08
10. Carl Avery (GBR) 1:45:36
