Gomez lights up Hungary
Men's Race
Olympic favourite Javier Gomez of Spain put another notch on his impressive career and showed the world he is still the man to beat in Beijing by wining the Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup in a time of 1 hour 51 minutes and 32 seconds today. With this win, Gomez ties Canada’s Simon Whitfield and New Zealand’s Hamish Carter, both Olympic gold medalists, for second on the all-time world cup win standings with 11. Coming back from injury to show he is still on track for the Olympics was Aussie Brad Kahlefeldt in second, only 19 second back. In third was hometown hero Dmitriy Gaag of Kazakhstan a further 17 seconds down.
As temperatures skyrocketed to 37 degrees Celsius, 63 men started the two lap 1,500 metre swim. As expected, Gomez and a small group of three took the pace out hard, stringing out the field in the non-wetsuit swim. By the end of the swim, Gomez would exit the water 22 seconds up on Kahlefeldt, Gaag and the other top runners on the start list. Showing their countries development, host nation Hungary placed four athletes in the top seven out of the water.
This lead would be erased quickly though as by the time the men rode the eight kilometres back to town after the swim it was one large group of 39. Once into town however, American Mark Fretta and Hungary’s Balazs Poscai were not content to sit in the large pack and made a break, stretching their lead to almost 50 seconds by the end of the 40-kilometre bike course. Ever watchful was the chase group with many of the sports top runners making sure not to give too much time to the duo.
It was obvious within the first kilometre of the run that Fretta and Poscai had expended too much energy under the hot sun on their breakaway and were caught and spit out the back by the fleet-footed Gomez and his posse of Kahlefeldt, Gaag, Steffen Justus of Germany, Reinaldo Colucci of Brazil and Oliver Freeman of Great Britain. These six ran side by side for the first five kilometres until, like clockwork, Gomez tightened the screw.
The first to fall off the pace was Gaag shortly followed by Colucci and Freeman. Kahlefeldt and Justus made a valiant effort to stay with the Spaniard but soon dropped back as well. Gomez kept the heat on the others and did not let up until the final 50 metres to acknowledge the thousands of spectators who braved the midday sun to cheer the competitors on.
Kahlefeldt finished in second for the third time in a row this year, each time to Gomez. A late charge from Gaag managed to bag the Kazak the bronze medal. His first world cup podium since 2006, which was also in Tiszaujvaros.
2008 Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup
Gold – Javier Gomez (ESP) 1:51:32
Silver – Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS) 1:51:51
Bronze – Dmitriy Gaag (KAZ) 1:52:08
Women's Race
In one of the oldest running world cups on the circuit it was triathlon veteran Andrea Whitcombe of Great Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2005. Whitcombe’s time of 2 hours 2 minutes and 48 seconds bested her closest rival Felicity Abram of Australia by 46 seconds in the hot and dry conditions. Abram’s silver medal today comes off a second place finish at the Hamburg BG Triathlon World Cup one week ago. Beijing-bound Mariana Ohata of Brazil rounded out the podium in third a further 33 seconds back.
From the starter’s horn it was Sarah Groff of the U.S. taking an early lead in the swim, exiting the water with local Margit Vanek of Hungary 23 seconds ahead of a group of four including Abram, Ohata, Whitcombe and Helle Frederiksen of Denmark.
After going out on her own for the first six kilometres and losing Vanek, Groff wisely sat up to wait for the group of four behind her rather then testing the mid-thirty degree temperatures solo. Once together the lead group of five immediately put a commanding two minutes on their chasers by the end of the first of seven short and technical laps through town. The lead grew to almost four minutes by the end of the 40 kilometre bike course leaving no doubt the medalists would come from this front group.
As temperatures continued to rise, the women hit the 10-kilometre flat and fast run course through the centre of town. As with the swim and bike Groff led out early in the run but was quickly passed by a charging Whitcombe and Abram. With recent personal best performances, early on it looked as though Abram would get her first world cup win.
This was not the case however as Whitcombe stormed away after the first of four laps to lead out on her own, putting time into her chasers on each lap. Waving to the thousands of spectators gathered, Whitcombe crossed the finish line comfortably in first place for her third career world cup win. Although not selected for the British Olympic team, Whitcombe shows she is a contender for the remaining four BG Triathlon World Cup titles.
Having pushed herself to the edge early on, Groff struggled through the final lap, being passed by Ohata, and barely crossing the line on her feet. Despite one of the fastest runs of the day, pre race favourite Vendula Frintova of the Czech Republic missed the lead group out of the swim and would settle for sixth place.
2008 Tiszaujvaros BG Triathlon World Cup
Gold – Andrea Whitcombe (GBR) 2:02:48
Silver – Felicity Abram (AUS) 2:03:34
Bronze – Mariana Ohata (BRA) 2:04:07
