Glory for Gemmell

by World Triathlon Admin on 23 Jul, 2006 12:00

The rain continued to fall in the Corner Brook valley as the fifty eight men took their positions on the start pontoon for the final edition of the Corner Brook BG Triathlon World Cup. It was New Zealander Kris Gemmell who with a finish time of 1:54:55, stole the win with a well-planned break away late in the bike. Local Canadian favourite Simon Whitfield rallied the spectators with the fastest run of the day to come within eleven seconds of the win. The 23-year-old sensation Javier Gomez from Spain captured the bronze medal a further five seconds back.

Gomez, Andy Potts (USA) and Courtney Atkinson (AUS) gained a small advantage on the swim leading a large group out of the water and up the steep incline to transition one. They were quickly caught on the bike and became a group of twenty-seven. This group cruised along until the two Belgium athletes broke away on the fourth of the six lap course.

The turning point of the race was when Gemmell jumped on the Belgium riders’ wheel. These three worked extremely well together over the last two laps, stretching their lead to over two minutes by second transition.

Once on the run it was a cat and mouse game as Gemmell went into cruise mode hoping not to blow up over the hilly and challenging run course knowing that some of the strongest runners in the sport were behind him. Chasing were Whitfield, Gomez, Ivan Rana (ESP), Hunter Kemper (USA), Andy Potts (USA) and Reto Hug (SUI). Whitfield, Gomez and Potts pulled away from the rest of the group and soon it was only Whitfield and Gomez in the chase.

As Gemmell ran to victory it was Whitfield that managed to dig deep and pull away from the strong Spaniard to take second place. Potts continues to impress with a strong run to finish in fourth place. Rana rounded out the top five.

Click here for official men’s results.