Great Dane cashes in at Des Moines

Monday, 23 June 2008

Now I know we have written a bit about this race but with one of the biggest paydays in the sport Des Moines is certainly a bright light on the ITU calender. This year saw both men's and women's races putting up $200,000 US for the win. The U.S Olympic team was also being decided and in the men's event it was a race to be across the line first.

Denmark's Rasmus Henning successfully defended his title in Des Moines, winning today's Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon World Cup by an 8-second margin over New Zealand's Bevan Docherty and Australian Greg Bennett. With the win, Henning picks up $200,000 (all funds USD) and his fifth career world cup title in the seventh round of the BG Triathlon World Cup series.

"I don't know what to say. This is unbelievable," said Henning at the finish line. "I didn't have any plans on winning this, I just wanted to come back and defend my title in a fashionable way. I'm so happy. I guess I added a bit to my bank account today."

The final U.S. Olympic spot was a battle between two-time Olympic Hunter Kemper and 2004 Olympian Andy Potts. If either man was the top American across the line, he would get the final the spot for Beijing. Due to the disastrous floods that have hit Iowa, the course had to be reconfigured and moved to West Des Moines nine days before the race.

Like the women's race, a Speedo-sponsored $5,000 bonus went to the first athlete out of the water and like the women's race, it went to a former NCAA All-American swimmer; Potts who exited the Blue Heron Lake ahead of the field but had fellow Americans Kemper and Brian Fleischmann close behind.

The small group began the 40-kilometer bike course together but wasn't able to get away and were soon pulled back into the first chase group, forming a 21-man front pack. On the third of eight laps the chase group caught up to the leaders.

On the sixth lap, American Tim O'Donnell broke away and rode solo into T2 but was overtaken quickly in the run. A distinct lead group of five men emerged and contained Henning, Whitfield, Docherty, Greg Bennett and 2002 world champion Ivan Rana of Spain; an group that owns a staggering 28 world cup titles and seven Olympic appearances between them.

Nearing the midway mark of the run, Henning began to break away, leaving the other four to battle for the final spots on the podium. Henning was victorious in Des Moines again with a time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 21 seconds while taking home $200,000. Docherty took silver and $40,000 for the second straight year while Bennett settled for the bronze, his first world cup podium since 2003.

In the battle for Beijing, Kemper finished in sixth place, 30 seconds ahead of Potts, ensuring his third trip to the Olympics.

2008 Hy-Vee Triathlon World Cup

Elite Men - Unofficial Results
Gold - Rasmus Henning (DEN) 01:54:21
Silver - Bevan Docherty (NZL) +00:00:08
Bronze - Greg Bennett (AUS) +00:00:11