Just two weeks before the Ironman World Championship in Kona, there were a few excellent races in Europe and North America. Notably, ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final and overall series winners Javier Gomez and Non Stanford kept up their winning ways with individual victories at the French Grand Prix Triathlon series finale in Nice. Tim Don won his second straight Ironman 70.3 race and Melissa Hauschildt recovered nicely from a second place finish at Cozumel last week with a dominating win at Ironman 70.3 Augusta.
Javier Gomez, Non Stanford win Nice French Grand Prix Final Individual crowns
World Triathlon Series 2013 Champions Javier Gomez of Spain and Non Stanford of Great Britain also won the French Grand Prix sprint distance Grand Final individual crowns in Nice Sunday.
Gomez and fellow Spaniard and fellow Sartrouville teammate Fernando Alarza broke the tape together holding hands - although Gomez was assigned the victory and thus won the individual men’s title. Both men were timed in 55 minutes and 59 seconds. Vincent Luis of France took 3rd, 10 seconds after the Spaniards.
Gomez and Alarza led their Sartrouville club to second place in the teams competition with 99 points, falling 2 points behind the clubs winner Sables Vendée, which was led by 4th place individual Pierre Le Corre and 9th place Anthony Pujades of France. Poissy, led by 6th place individual Alessandro Fabian of Italy and 7th place individual Aurelien Raphael of France, placed 3rd with 92 points.
ITU World Triathlon Series world champion Non Stanford joined Vicky Holland, Natalie Van Coevorden, Jessica Harrison and Pamela Oliveira in a bike breakaway that put two minutes on 20 chasers that were decimated by a collective fall that put Charlotte Morel and two others on the ground. On the final leg, Stanford unleashed her devastating run to finish in 1:00:19 with a 63 seconds margin of victory over fellow Brit and runner-up Holland and 1:22 over 3rd place Harrison.
Poissy, led by Harrison’s 3rd place, Oliveira’s 5th place and Aileen Reid’s 6th place individual finishes, defended its 2012 title and won the club competition with a total of 106 points. Parthenay, led by several triathletes who finished out of the top 10 individuals, took 2nd with 84 points. Chateauroux, which likewise did not place anyone among the top 10 individuals, placed 3rd with 73.5 points.
French Triathlon Federation Grand Prix Grand Final
Nice, France
September 29, 2013
S 750m / B 20k / R 5k
Results
Elite Individual
1. Javier Gomez (ESP/Sartrouville) 55:59
2. Fernando Alarza (ESP/Sartrouville) 55:59
3. Vincent Luis (FRA/St. Genevieve) 56:09
4. Pierre Le Corre (FRA/Les Sables Vendée) 56:17
5. Aaron Royle (AUS/Mulhouse Olympique) 56:27
Men’s Teams – General Final
1. Les Sables Vendée 101 points
2. Sartrouville 99
3. Poissy 92
4. St. Quentin en Yvelines 67
5. Mulhouse Olympique 60.5
Elite Women
1. Non Stanford (GBR/Parthenay) 1:00:19
2. Vicky Holland (GBR/Ardennes) 1:01:22
3. Jessica Harrison (FRA/Poissy 1:01:41
4. Natalie Van Coeverden (AUS/Val de Gray) 1:02:19
5. Pamela Oliveira (BRA/Poissy) 1:02:58
Women’s Teams - General Final
1. Poissy 106 points
2. Parthenay 84
3. Chateauroux 73.5
4. Val de Gray 73
5. Stade Poitevin 73
Sven Riederer, Jodie Stimpson win Alicante World Cup
Veteran Swiss Olympian Sven Riederer eked out a close win over unheralded young Vicente Hernandez of Spain and World Triathlon Series silver medalist Jodie Stimpson of Great Britain dominated the women's field at the Alicante ITU Triathlon World Cup.
Riederer emerged from the swim in 8th place, 13 seconds behind the 19:16 race-best splits of Francesc Godoy and Igor Polyanskiy – and in perfect position to join a lead pack on the bike that numbered roughly two dozen contenders.
After the shuffle at the second transition, the footrace sorted itself out by the final mile when things came down to a three-man duel between Riederer, long, longshot Hernandez – whose most recent big race performance was an 18TH place at the Under 23 Grand Final in London -- and 19-year-old Grant Sheldon of Great Britain, whose most recent big race finish was 3rd at the 2013 Junior ITU Grand Final in London.
When the sprint to the finish was over, Riederer won by 2 seconds over runner-up Hernandez and 4 seconds on 3rd –place finisher Sheldon. That margin was largely thanks to Riederer’s 36 seconds split at T2, which was 3 seconds better than Hernandez and just 1 second better than Sheldon. Because of a few seconds lost here and there, the three men on the podium finished in reverse order of their run times – 31:20 for Sheldon, 31:26 for Hernandez and 31:27 for their wily 32-year-old elder, Riederer.
Stimpson, coming off a remarkable World Triathlon Series season in which she won the crazy steep mountain climb at Kitzbühel, finished 3rd at Yokohama, Madrid and Hamburg, and took 4th at the WTS Grand Final in London, finished the swim in the middle of a breakaway pack of 7. With lead swimmer Lucy Hall falling off the back on the bike, the pack of six pulled away with near identical top bike splits that put 90-plus seconds on the best chasers in the field.
Ultimately, Stimpson’s class showed on the run as her 3rd-fastest 35:34 run dusted off her closest rivals in the lead bike pack. Stimpson finished in 2:02:39 with a 55-seconds margin of victory over fellow lead bike packer Alice Betto of Italy, whose 36:17 run gave her 2nd place. Betto was 51 seconds ahead of fellow lead bike packer Rachel Klamer, whose 37:08 run gave her the final spot on the podium. Ainhoa Murua of Spain posted the women’s fastest run split of 35:18 to overcome her 20:24 swim and 1:07:21 bike split to finish 4th, 47 seconds behind Klamer.
Alicante ITU Triathlon World Cup
Alicante, Spain
September 29, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Men
1. Sven Riederer (SUI) 1:53:44
2. Vicente Hernandez (ESP) 1:53:46
3. Grant Sheldon (GBR) 1:53:48
4. Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) 1:54:07
5. Miguel Arraiolos (POR) 1:54:10
Women
1. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 2:02:39
2. Alice Betto (ITA) 2:03:24
3. Rachel Klamer (NED) 2:04:15
4. Ainhoa Murua (ESP) 2:05:02
5. Anastasia Abrosimova (RUS) 2:05:06
Tim Don, Melissa Hauschildt zoom to Augusta 70.3 victories
The occasionally super spectacular performer Tim Don of Great Britain and two-time Ironman 70.3 World Champion Melissa Hauschildt of Australia posted swift times during dominating races to win Ironman 70.3 Augusta.
Don, the 2006 ITU Olympic distance World Champion and 2010 $200,000 Hy-Vee World Cup winner who left behind ITU short course racing in order to learn the intricacies of 70.3 racing this year, got an A grade for the latter half of 2013 with a virtual wire-to-wire victory in a blazing fast time of 3:44:50 on a course far flatter than the legendary, nearby Augusta National Golf Club.
Don’s 19:10 swim was faster than any of the eventual top 20 men and his 2:10:12 bike split was beaten only by 2 seconds by defending Augusta 70.3 champion Maxim Kriat of the Ukraine and equaled by Paul Matthews of Australia. The Don then put his stamp on the race with a race-fastest 1:11:42 run split which was 2:42 faster than the next best-effort by Canada’s Trevor Wurtele and brought the Britisher home in 3:44:50 with a 2:46 margin of victory over the runner-up, Viktor Zyemtsev of the Ukraine, and 3:03 over 2012 Ironman Arizona winner Nils Frommhold of Germany.
The Don’s 70.3 education began in 2009 with a 4th place finish at Augusta 70.3, advanced with a 3rd-place finish at Ironman 70.3 South Africa this January and a win at Ironman 70.3 Calgary this summer in an even-swifter-than-Augusta time of 3:42:21.
Hauschildt, perhaps miffed at her only second 2nd place finish of the year last weekend at Ironman 70.3 Cozumel, uncorked a good-for-her 4th-fastest 21:03 swim only 18 seconds slower than the women’s best by Emma-Kate Lidbury. After a race-best 2:19:23 bike split that was 4:43 better than the women’s next best by Ruth Brennan-Morey, the race was hers. But instead of cruising home, Hauschildt preferred to get it over with and zoomed home with a 1:18:59 run split that brought her to the line in 4:03:27 with an 11:53 margin of victory over runner-up Brennan-Morey and 14:18 over 3rd-place finisher Lidbury.
Hauschildt’s remarkable season now includes wins at Abu Dhabi International, the ITU long course World Championship, the Ironman 70.3 World Championship, and 70.3 triumphs at Timberman, Geelong, Boulder and Augusta well as 2nd place finishes at the Hy-Vee Olympic distance 5i50 contest and at Ironman 70.3 Cozumel.
Ironman 70.3 Augusta
Augusta, Georgia
September 29, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Tim Don (GBR) 3:44:50
2. Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) 3:47:36
3. Nils Frommhold (GER) 3:47:53
4. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) 3:49:07
5. Richie Cunningham (AUS) 3:50:31
Women
1. Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) 4:03:27
2. Ruth Brennan-Morey (USA) 4:15:20
3. Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 4:17:45
4. Hallie Blunck (USA) 4:22:29
5. Jessica Chong (USA) 4:22:59
Kevin Everett, Radka Vodickova win Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles
Kevin Everett, a 38-year-old pro from Boise, Idaho, won one of his biggest titles while Czech Republic Olympian Radka Vodickova outswam Heather Jackson and held off the bike-run charge of her Bend, Oregon rival to win the Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles.
Everett combined a 20:26 swim, race-best 57:33 bike split and a 2nd best 32:59 run to finish in 1:52:28 with a 1 minute 30 seconds margin of victory over runner-up William Jones of La Jolla, California and 2:18 over 3rd-place finisher Sean Jefferson of Pacific Palisades, California.
Vodickova combined a fastest women’s pro 21:28 swim, a 3rd-fastest 1:04:41 bike split and a women’s 2nd-fastest 35:13 run to finish in 2:03:07 with a 1:05 margin of victory over runner-up Heather Jackson and 3:28 over 3rd place Yvonne Van Vlerken, a multiple Ironman winner looking for a nice speed workout before Kona.
Jackson started her day 2:49 behind Vodickova after the swim. Jackson then made an heroic effort to catch Vodickova, out biking her 1:03:05 to 1:04:41 and outrunning her 35:03 to 35:13, but fell 65 seconds short. Jackson, who has been having a great 2013 long course season, has also performed well at the shorter distances, as evidenced by her win at Escape From Alcatraz this spring.
Herbalife Triathlon Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
September 29, 2013
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Results
Pro Men
1. Kevin Everett (USA) 1:52:28
2. William Jones (USA) 1:53:58
3. Sean Jefferson (USA) 1:54:46
4. Chris Foster (USA) 1:54:47
5. Andrew Russell (CAN) 1:57:05
Pro Women
1. Radka Vodickova (CZE) 2:03:07
2. Heather Jackson (USA) 2:04:12
3. Yvonne Van Vlerken (NED) 2:06:35
4. Julie Ertel (USA) 2:10:41
5. Daria Pletikapa (CRO) 2:12:50
Jozsef Major and Charisa Wernick win 35th Superfrog Triathlon
Jozsef Major of Hungary and Charisa Wernick of Carlsbad, California won the 35th edition of the half Ironman distance Superfrog Triathlon Sunday in Coronado, California.
Major combined a 13th best 29:56 ocean swim, a race-fastest 2:05:17 bike split and a 2nd-best 1;17:34 run in the soft sands of the Coronado beach to finish in 3:54:43 with a 6:15 margin of victory over Team TBB’s Scott DeFilippis of the U.S. and 8:17 over 3rd-place finisher Ian Mikelson of the U.S.
Major’s overall time was 4:58 slower than 2012 Superfrog winner Lance Armstrong, who competed in this independent race after being banned from all sanctioned triathlons for his use of performance enhancing drugs during his cycling career.
Major’s Superfrog win was his second, as he won this event in 2011. Major has also won the Ironman distance race in his native Hungary 7 times and won Ironman Arizona in April of 2008.
Charisa Wernick combined a 19th overall (including the men) fastest 30:50 swim, 8th-fastest overall 2:19:11 bike split and 10th-fastest overall 1:30:59 run to finish in 4:22:39 with a 55 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Carrie Lester of Australia and 15:12 over Katya Meyers of nearby San Diego.
Lester began the day with a 28:48 swim in the Pacific surf which established a 2:02 lead over Wernick. Wernick gained all of that back plus a 5 seconds lead on the multiple lap bike leg, then secured the victory with a run that was 37 seconds faster than her Australian rival.
Wernick’s best previous 2013 result was a 6th place at the Escape From Alcatraz. In 2012, Wernick finished 3rd at Ironman Wisconsin and posted remarkably consistent 5th place finishes at Wildflower long course, Ironman Texas, Rev3 Wisconsin and Augusta 70.3.
Superfrog Triathlon
Coronado, California
September 29, 2013
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Men
1. Jozsef Major (HUN) 3:54:43
2. Scott DeFilippis (USA) 4:00:58
3. Ian Mikelson (USA) 4:03:00
4. Timothy Marr (USA) 4:04:56
5. Nathan Dressel (USA) 4:19:00
Women
1. Charisa Wernick (USA) 4:22:39
2. Carrie Lester (AUS) 4:23:34
3. Katya Meyers (USA) 4:37:51
4. Erin Young (USA) 4:42:51
5. Kathy Rakel (USA) 4:44:15
