World Triathlon

2005 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships - Elite Men

As the men approached the startline, the weather in Strbske Pleso worsened,   with the sun disappearing and the temperature dropping. However, the expected   snow storm never arrived, so the athletes began the race in fair conditions.

From the start, Heinz Planitzer (AUT) took the lead and, together with local   matador Patrik Kuril (SVK), the two managed to build a small gap between themselves   and the chase group - wihich included reigning World Champion Sigi Bauer, Stefan   Frank (GER), Arne Post (NOR) and Daniel Antonioli (ITA). The top two continued   to increase their lead, and had built it to over a minute into transition 1.

Kuril then launched himself superbly into the bike leg, and managed to take   the lead from Planitzer in the first lap. Through Lap 2, the crowd of spectators   began to see great drama unfold. However, after technical problems with his   bike which cost him at least 3 minutes, Kuril relinquished the lead to Planitzer   and the rest of the field. He almost gave up on the race, before managing to   repair his bike and continuel. After Planitzer pulled out, a new drama took   shape: Sigi Bauer, Stefan Frank, Daniel Antonioli and bike expert Thomas Schrenk   all pushed for the lead a various times.

Through transition 2, and into the ski leg, a real thriller began to unfold   in front of the wildly enthusiastic spectators. The top group fought hard to   forge a decisive gap between each other, with local hero Patrik Kuril moving   his way back up the leaderboard with a tremendous ski., Sigi Bauer then took   over, and moved away from his opponents. It remained tight right to the finish,   but Bauer hung on to win the World Championships, ahead of Frank, Schrenk, and   Kuril - all crossing the finish line within 6 seconds of each other. Italy’s   Daniel Antonioli took the U23 title, with Christian Frommelt of Liechtenstein   second, and and Giuseppe Lamastra of Italy third

More details and results at www.triathlon.org