Last weekend was the penultimate round of the ITU World Triathlon series in beautiful Stockholm, Sweden. We were given a masterclass by both the inform men and women athletes on the cobble stones and it sets up the final round in London to be a real show stopper.
The ladies were first up and it seems that the rest of the female athletes should now start to be very scared of the potential of US superstar Gwen Jorgensen. All season she has been renowned for her running ability, most races having the fastest split by far but has been found out in the swim and the cycle legs. Coming out of the water amongst some of the fields better swimmers clearly shows she has used the break in between races to its full advantage and if she can continue to put in the work in the swim there isn't much she cant achieve.
Our Kiwi pocket rocket a.k.a Andrea Hewitt got herself into a good position in both the swim and cycle leg and lead a breakaway with Vanessa Raw at the halfway point to build a sizable gap over the lead pack which contained the likes of Non Stanford, Anne Haug and of course gangly Gwen Jorgensen.
The lead was pushed out to 0.48 seconds heading into transition and from there Hewitt just didn't seem to have her running legs as Jorgensen chased her down within the first 3km of the run which is simply phenomenal.
From Hewitt's point of view it was definitely worth taking the risk and making a move towards the front, the kind of tactics we usually don't see from our athletes but could well be beneficial in the long run. Andrea held on for 7th place which still keeps her in contention for a top 10 finish at the end of the series.
A fantastic effort from Non Stanford to finish in 2nd position after her horrible bike crash in the team triathlon event in Hamburg.
The men followed on the next day with an extra bike lap added after an oil spill caused a change in the course outline for them. The usual suspects were in the first group out of the swim with the Brownlee brothers, Javier Gomez leading the charge out onto the course.
Our Kiwi boys were further back in the field, with Ryan Sissons not having one of his best swim's coming out of the water amongst the last placed competitors and not giving himself virtually any chance of bridging the gap to the lead bike packs.
Alistair Brownlee made a move on lap 8 and pushed his lead out to 20 seconds heading into transition. Javier Gomez commented post match that he simply didn't see Brownlee make his break, as he was at the back of the bike group. With Gomez registering the fastest run split of the day it seems like it could have been a missed opportunity for him but he is still placed 2nd overall in the WTS standings with London the final race of the series.
Kiwi Tony Dodds was in the 2nd chase group but it seemed was content to stick in the bunch and from our view point at home, wasn't keen on making the big move to try and up the pace. It was almost the kind of tactics we saw earlier in the weekend from Andrea could have been beneficial to give himself a chance at possibly a top 10 finish.
With London slowly creeping around the corner, i'am hoping that our Kiwi athletes can finish on a strong note.
As always counting down the days until the next race.
Women's Elite results
1. Gwen Jorgensen - 1.55.31
2. Non Stanford - 1.56.20
3. Anne Haug - 1.56.47
4. Vicky Holland - 1.57.02
5. Jodie Stimpson - 1.57.06
6. Maaike Caelers - 1.57.09
7. Andrea Hewitt - 1.57.38
8. Sarah Groff - 1.57.41
9. Aileen Reid - 1.57.44
10. Alice Bento - 1.57.48
Men's Elite Results
1. Alistair Brownlee - 1.43.13
2. Javier Gomez - 1.43.27
3. Jonny Brownlee - 1.43.50
4. Aurelian Raphael - 1.45.14
5. Vincent Luis - 1.45.22
6. Richard Murray - 1.45.39
7. Richard Varga - 1.45.47
8. Laurent Vidal - 1.46.02.
9. Pierre le Corre - 1.46.10
10. David Mcnamee - 1.46.23
Women's race highlights from ITU Triathlon via Youtube below.
Men's race highlights from ITU Triathlon via Youtube below.
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