The weekend before Kona there were some strong performances by triathlon stars in Spain, Mexico and Texas. Notably, Sergio Marques of Portugal and Eva Wutti of Austria posted very fast run and finish times at Challenge Barcelona, Javier Gomez and Jodie Stimpson won close victories at the World Cup sprint in Cozumel and Cam Dye and Alicia Kaye biked away from rivals in Dallas.
Sergio Marques and Eva Wutti go very fast, win Challenge Barcelona
Sergio Marques posted a lightning fast marathon to outrun Tom Lowe of Great Britain and Eva Wutti of Austria ran a world-class run split to dominate the women’s field at the full distance Challenge Barcelona.
Konstantin Bachor of Germany burst to a big lead with a race-best 52:24 swim and a lightning-fast 4:14:16 bike split which gave him a 15 minutes lead on Marques and 16 minutes on Tom Lowe of Great Britain at T2. But once they hit the run, Bachor’s eventual 3:00:58 run was no match for his pursuers. After his blazing-swift 2:38:47 marathon, Marques finished in 8:05:21 with a 2:29 margin of victory over Lowe, who ran an excellent 2:41:19. Bachor finished 3rd, 6:02 behind Marques.
“I am very happy with this result,” said Marques. “I was third in the last kilometers and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to catch up, but I fought hard and finally did it. I am thrilled by the mark I achieved.”
Wutti’s 1:02:39 swim left her with a 6:32 deficit to Lucie Reed of the Czech Republic and a 3:52 lead on rival Tiina Boman of Finland. Wutti then unleashed a 4:46:37 bike split which took back 4:38 from Reed’s lead and put Boman out of contention, 16 minutes further back.
Within the first few miles, Wutti cruised past Reed on her way to a women’s race-fastest 2:57:57 run that brought her to the line in 8:51:01 with a 6:33 margin of victory over Reed, who ran 3:06:05 and also broke 9 hours. Boman finished 3rd, 25:42 back of Reed.
Wutti came into this race not optimistic that she could match her recent performance at Ironman Copenhagen. “I didn’t see myself as the favorite,” she said. “Everyone told me I was but I didn’t think I could make it. But I did! I went out to give it all and the result was just perfect!”
The race was marred by the death of a 40-year-old British age group triathlete. Race organizers and the Spanish Triathlon Federation issue a joint statement which declared that the man lost consciousness in the first meters of the swim, was taken to the beach and treated by three doctors and two emergency medical technicians, then moved to a mobile ICU unit before he was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest. The man’s identity was not released pending notification of next of kin.
Challenge Barcelona
Barcelona Spain
October 6, 2013
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Results
Men
1. Sergio Marques (POR) 8:05:21
2. Tom Lowe (GBR) 8:07:50
3. Konstantin Bachor (GER) 8:11:23
4. Anton Blokhin (UKR) 8:13:27
5. Richard Calle Martinez (ESP) 8:15:30
Women
1. Eva Wutti (AUT) 8:51:01
2. Lucie Reed (CZE) 8:57:34
3. Tiina Boman (FIN) 9:23:16
4. Gurutze Frades Larralde (ESP) 9:28:51
5. Annette Finger (SUI) 9:30:20
Javier Gomez and Nicola Spirig win Cozumel World Cup
On a blazing hot day in one of Mexico’s premier resorts, Olympic silver medalist Javier Gomez and Olympic gold medalist Nicola Spirig won the sprint distance Cozumel World Cup Sunday.
Gomez, coming off a world title in the ITU’s premier World Triathlon Series, started his season with a World Cup win in Mooloolaba and ended it with his 14th World Cup victory earned with a successful finish line sprint. Gomez prevailed with a race-fastest 15:34 5k run to finish in 53:26 as he ran away in the final chute to a 2 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Aurélien Lescure of France and 5 seconds ahead of 3rd-place finisher Dmitry Polyanskiy of Russia.
“It was extremely hot out there,” said Gomez, who was fighting an illness the week before the race. “I was dead on the run. The last 1 kilometer I tried to hang on and give my all the last 100 meters.”
After a crowded swim and a 9-man lead pack on the bike, Gomez shot out of T2 like a rocket, followed closely by Polyanskiy and Jarrod Shoemaker of the U.S. Behind them, Lescure picked off a slew of runners and took down Shoemaker and the Russian near the end of the run and the Frenchman came upon Gomez’s heels as they came to the blue finish carpet. That’s when Gomez hit the accelerator and sped to the victory. Lescure finished with the second best run, precisely 2 seconds slower than Gomez and 3 seconds better than Polyanskiy. Shoemaker took 4th, 1 second behind Polyanskiy and 6 seconds ahead of 5th place finisher Florin Salvisberg of Switzerland.
Olympic gold medalist Nicola Spirig made her return to international competition after the birth of her first child earlier this year. Spirig edged 4th-place Olympian Sarah Groff of the United States by 5 seconds for the victory.
“It was very hard, but the crowd was amazing, not just for the Mexicans but for me and the other athletes,” said Spirig, who seemed unaffected by the scorching, humid heat. “I trained here a before, so I think I was a little bit used to it.”
Groff, Katie Hursey of the USA and Pamela Oliveira of Brazil led the swim, with Spirig 29 seconds back. Spirig led a chase group of four and caught the leaders on the second lap of four on the bike.
“I’m very thankful to Spirig, who pushed very hard on the bike so we could reach the first group,” said Lisa Perterer of Austria.
A pack of 16 entered T2 together and Spirig, Groff, Perterer and Claudia Rivas of Mexico ran to the front. Spirig broke away halfway through the 5k run.
“The run, oh my, that hurt,” said Groff. “After a big one in London, it’s hard to keep up that momentum. If I could finish second to some great little speedsters, I’m happy.”
Cozumel World Cup
Cozumel, Mexico
October 6, 2013
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Men
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 53:26
2. Aurélien Lescure (FRA) 53:28
3. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 53:31
4. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 53:32
5. Florin Salvisberg (SUI) 53:38
7. Kaleb Vanort (USA) 53:46
15. Jason Pedersen (USA) 54:06
39. Alex Libin (USA) 55:50
43. Ben Kanute (USA) 56:09
Women
1. Nicola Spirig (SUI) 57:53
2. Sarah Groff (USA) 57:58
3. Lisa Perterer (AUT) 58:11
4. Claudia Rivas (MEX) 58:15
5. Joanna Brown (CAN) 58:43]
8. Katie Hursey (USA) 59:08
11. Lindsey Jerdonek (USA) 59:50
23. Erin Dolan (USA) 1:03:08
30. Kaitlin Donner (USA) 1:04:41
Mario Mola and Jodie Stimpson win the Garmin Barcelona Olympic distance Triathlon
Mario Mola of Spain and Jodie Stimpson of Great Britain won the Garmin Barcelona Olympic distance Triathlon Sunday.
Mola, fellow Spaniard Cesc Godoy and Italian Alessandro Fabian led the men out of the water in a time of 17:05 with a gap of about 25 seconds on the chasers. The lead group worked hard together on the bike and increased their lead to about 30 seconds by T2. Mola drew away from the start on his way to a race-fastest 30:18 split which brought him to the finish in 1:46:59 with a margin of victory of 50 seconds on runner-up Fabian and 1:07 in 3rd place Godoy.
“I am delighted to win this race two years after being second,” Mola told Garmin race media. “I felt comfortable in the swim leg even though it is not the strongest of my disciplines and on the run I pushed hard at the beginning to outrun my opponents. When I did that I tried hard to keep my lead.”
In the women’s race, Caroline Routier of Spain led the swim and established a 1:03 lead on Stimpson, who recently finished 2nd in the ITU’s premier World Triathlon Series. Routier charged solo on the bike to a lead of nearly 3 minutes. But when the run started, Stimpson, who won this race in 2009 and 2010, charged hard and passed Routier at the 9 kilometer mark. Stimpson cruised to the finish in 1:54:29 with a 23 seconds margin of victory over Routier and 2:47 over 3rd place finisher Ainhoa Murua of Spain.
Garmin BCN Triathlon
Barcelona, Spain
October 6, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Elite Men
1. Mario Mola (ESP) 1:46:59
2. Alessandro Fabian (ITA) 1:47:49
3. Cesc Godoy (ESP) 1:48:06
4. Matt Sharp (GBR) 1:49:51
5. Jordi Garcia (ESP) 1:51:02
Elite Women
1. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 1:54:29
2. Carolina Routier (ESP) 1:54:52
3. Ainhoa Murua (ESP) 1:57:16
4. Michelle Flipo (MEX) 1:57:39
5. Gillian Sanders (RSA) 2:01:55
Cameron Dye and Alicia Kaye win Life time Fitness Dallas
Cameron Dye and Alicia Kaye won the men’s and women’s elite titles at Life Time Fitness Dallas on the strength of superior bike splits.
Dye started the day with a race-best 18:38 swim which gave the Boulder, Colorado native a 2 seconds advantage on Hunter Kemper, 5 seconds on James Seear, 9 seconds on Stuart Hayes and Brandon Barrett and 12 seconds on Ben Collins. Dye gave back 11 seconds to a race-best 54:44 bike split by Collins, while Hayes hung 1 minute back after a 3rd-best 55:57 split and Kemper and Seear lost touch after 58:03 and 58:08 splits.
Starting the run, Kemper went on a rampage and made up a lot of ground with a race-fastest 32:14 split. But Dye’s well balanced day was capped off by a 5th-best 34:50 run which brought him to the finish in 1:50:17 with a 25 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Hayes, who finished with a 34:03 run. Kemper made up tons of ground with his run, but lost too much time on the bike and was 34 seconds short of Dye with his 3rd place finish. Collins closed with a 35:55 run to finish 4th, 1:05 back of Dye.
Kaye began with a 20:35 swim which put her 2:01 behind Sara McLarty of the U.S. and 43 seconds behind Helle Frederiksen of Denmark. Kaye broke open the race with a women’s best 59:38 bike split which was 1:59 better than Frederiksen, 3:35 better than McLarty, 4:06 better than Lauren Goss and 4:41 better than Radka Vodickova of the Czech Republic. Kaye’s 38:07 run split surrendered 1:10 to Frederiksen but brought the American to the finish in 2:00:22 with a 6 seconds margin of victory over the Dane. Goss closed fast with a women’s race-best 35:40 10k run, but that only brought her to 3rd place, 2:02 behind Frederiksen. McLarty was 4th 42 seconds behind Goss.
Life Time Fitness Dallas
Dallas, Texas
October 6, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Cameron Dye (USA) 1:50:17
2. Stuart Hayes (GBR) 1:50:42
3. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:50:51
4. Ben Collins (USA) 1:51:22
5. James Seear (AUS) 1:53:39
Women
1. Alicia Kaye (USA) 2:00:22
2. Helle Frederiksen (DNK) 2:00:28
3. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:02:30
4. Sara McLarty (USA) 2:03:12
5. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:05:00
