World Triathlon

The 2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series continued its exciting start to the year with some breathtaking races at round two in Madrid, Spain.

Andrea Hewitt outsprinted four other competitors to win in a photo finish ahead of Swedens Lisa Norden in the womens race as they crossed the line together in 2:05:58, with the last ditch effort paying off for the Kiwi who suffered at the opening race of the series in Tongyeong when she crashed early on the cycle leg. Jessica Harrison from France finished in third just one second behind, with Germanys Christiane Pilz and Sarah Haskins from the USA trailing in having run most of the 10km together.

Haskins was the first out of the swim along with compatriot Sarah Groff along with the Japanese pairing of Adachi and Ide and Harrison from France. Australias Annabel Luxford was also towards the fore and she broke early on the bike with Haskins as they led for the opening couple of laps around the Caso de Campo park.

Renowned strong cyclists, Lisa Norden and Switzerlands Daniela Ryf, pulled the chasing pack back to the leaders, however the increase in pace fronted by an attacking Vanessa Raw from Great Britain, dropped both the reigning world champion, Helen Jenkins from Wales and Tongyeong bronze medallist, Ide as they suffered over the hilly course.

Exiting for the run the lead pack of 13 held an insurmountable 1:37 advantage over the chasers group which included an exasperated 2008 world cup series champion, Samantha Warriner from New Zealand. The Kiwi had worked tirelessly to try and bridge the gap to the leaders and carried that mindset onto the run as she clocked the fastest split time to run from 14th up to seventh.

At the front both Norden and Hewitt went straight to the fore; however repeated surges from Haskins, Harrison and Pilz ensured the front five stayed ahead of the chasing Swiss pairing of Ryf and Di Marco Messmer. Their order remained the same until the closing stages when Hewitt and Norden launched their attacks as the athletes entered the finishing chute.

Nordens height advantage and longer stride length pulled her away from Hewitt, however the New Zealander rallied in the final few metres to clinch victory with a last ditch effort reminiscent of compatriot Bevan Dochertys victory in Tongyeong at the opening Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series fixture. The top two waited momentarily for final confirmation of the result by the ITU technical officials after analysis of the photo finish imagery.

Ive never been in a photo finish before, said Hewitt. We ran together for the whole run, pacing off each other. The Kiwis have had a great start to the season and were just going to keep going for the rest of the season like this.

Norden was equally pleased with her result having missed the start of the season with injury. I didn’t have any expectations going into the race, she admitted. I had two weeks of running build up, but have been doing lots of swimming and biking, and that was in place today. I was feeling pretty good on the last lap and tried to give energy for the sprint, but Andrea came up really fast on the inside. I gave it everything. I surprised myself on the run; I’m very happy with the outcome.

In the overall standings 2009 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Rankings Switzerlands Magali Di Marco Messmer moved into the top position on the womens side as her sixth place finish combined with seventh in the opening leg in Tongyeong, Korea gave her a total of 1043 points, just 19 points ahead of the consistent Jessica Harrison from France. Australias Emma Moffatt drops one place to third with 1018 points as her early season second place finish at the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup was added to the overall score.

Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Rankings
After Race Two of Eight
1. Magali Di Marco Messmer (SUI) 1043pts
2. Jessica Harrison (FRA) 1024pts
3. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1018pts
4. Juri Ide (JPN) 985ts
5. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 965pts

Madrid Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship
1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Elite Women - Official Results
Gold Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2:05:58
Silver Lisa Norden (SWE) 2:05:58 +0:01
Bronze Jessica Harrison (FRA) 2:05:59 +0:02
4th Christiane Pilz (GER) 2:06:02 +0:05
5th Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:06:04 +0:07
6th Magali D Marco Messmer (SUI) 2:06:18 +0:21
7th Samantha Warriner (NZL) 2:06:45 +0:48
8th Daniela Ryf (SUI) 2:06:52 +0:55
9th Sarah Groff (USA) 2:07:25 +1:28
10th Ai Ueda (JPN) 2:07:31 +1:34

Click here for full results

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En un pico sprint final la neozelandesa Andrea Hewitt y la sueca Lisa Norden cruzaron juntas la lnea de meta con un tiempo de 2:05:58, en la segunda prueba de las Series de los Campeonatos del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy, celebrada en Madrid, Espaa.

La suiza Magali Di Marco Messmer, pasa a ocupar la primera posicin de la clasificacin general de las Series de los Campeonatos del mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy con 1043 puntos, tras conseguir finalizar hoy en sexta posicin y sptima en la primera pruebas de las series celebrada en Tongyeong, Corea.

Despus de hacer un gran segmento de natacin, Hewitt se situ en el grupo de cabeza del duro segmento de la bicicleta que hizo que muchos de los favoritos de la carrera se retirasen debido al recorrido montaoso y a las altas temperaturas que sobrepasaron los 30 grados.

Una vez ya en el segmento de carrera a pie, se form un grupo de cinco corredores en el que estaban la francesa Jessica Harrison, la alemana Christine Pilz, la estadounidense Sarah Haskins, as como Norden y Hewitt. Las atletas corrieron codo con codo durante los primeros 9,8Km, pero cuando las cinco atletas entraron en la recta final, Norden atac para conseguir una pequea ventaja, pero sin embargo en un ltimo esfuerzo a la desesperada, la neozelandesa cruz la meta en primera posicin por unos milmetros.

Los dos primeros puestos se hicieron esperar,  mientras se revisaba la foto finish en una repeticin de la carrera masculina de la primera prueba de las series que se disput en Tongyeong, Corea. Se confirm a Harrison en tercera posicin, mientras que Pilz y Haskins terminaron cuarta y quinta respectivamente.

Con esta victoria Hewitt ve como cambia su suerte en Madrid, en done haba sido dos veces subcampeona.  En la primera prueba de las Series de los Campeonatos del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy en Tongyeong, Corea, una cada en la bicicleta dejo a la atleta con magulladuras y con un decepcionante 39 puesto final.
Nunca antes haba estado en un una foto finish dijo Hewitt. Hemos corrido juntas todo el segmento de carrera a pie, controlndonos la una a la otra. Las neozelandesas hemos tenido un gran inicio de temporada y firmaba que el resto de la temporada fuese como hasta ahora.

Norden estaba igualmente encantada con su resultado tras haberse perdido el comienzo de la temporada por una lesin. No tena depositadas muchas esperanzas en esta carrera, admiti. He tenido slo dos semanas para preparar la carrera a pie, pero he entrenado mucho la natacin y la bicicleta y gracias a eso he terminado as. Me he sentido bastante bien en la ltima vuelta e intentaba guardar fuerzas para el sprint, pero Andrea se acerc muy rpido por el interior. Lo he dado todo. Me he sorprendido a mi misma en la carrera a pie; estoy muy contenta con el resultado

Clasificacin General del Campeonato del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy
Tras la segunda de las ocho carreras
1. Magali Di Marco Messmer (SUI) 1043pts
2. Jessica Harrison (FRA) 1024pts
3. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1018pts
4. Juri Ide (JPN) 985ts
5. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 965pts

Campeonato del Mundo de Triatln ITU Dextro Energy de Madrid
1.5km natacin, 40km bicicleta, 10km carrera a pie
Elite Femenina Resultados Oficiales
Oro Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2:05:58
Plata Lisa Norden (SWE) 2:05:58 +0:01
Bronce Jessica Harrison (FRA) 2:05:59 +0:02
4th Christiane Pilz (GER) 2:06:02 +0:05
5th Sarah Haskins (USA) 2:06:04 +0:07
6th Magali D Marco Messmer (SUI) 2:06:18 +0:21
7th Samantha Warriner (NZL) 2:06:45 +0:48
8th Daniela Ryf (SUI) 2:06:52 +0:55
9th Sarah Groff (USA) 2:07:25 +1:28
10th Ai Ueda (JPN) 2:07:31 +1:34