Sissons Best Of Kiwis In Kitzbuehel

With a gutsy breakaway on the bike, Great Britain's Stuart Hayes stunned the field and stole the win at today's Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship in Kitzbühel. The Brit was part of a five-man break on the bike, which was able to build a lead of over 1:40 at the second transition.

"The only way I can win these races is to get away on the bike, otherwise there's no chance for me," Hayes said afterward. "Either I get away and it works or I end up near last place because I gave everything I had trying to get away. That's the way I like to race."

On the bikes at Kitzbuehel (Photo: Janos Schmidt / triathlon.org; click to enlarge)

Spain's Javier Gomez, who won the last two rounds of the Series in Hamburg and London, wasn't part of the five-man break, but the fleet-footed Spaniard was able to run his way up to second, despite having to serve 15-second penalty. Gomez, who finished 32 seconds back of Hayes, was penalized for not stowing his helmet properly in the second transition.

"I don't know that anything would've changed if I didn't have the penalty," Gomez said. "I don't think I would've been able to catch Stuart today. He had a great race and I'm very happy for him."

Auckland’s Ryan Sissons was the best of the Kiwis with one of his best races yet in the ITU World Champs Series as he finished in 24th place as he continues to build strongly towards the season ending Grand Finale in Budapest next month, while New Plymouth’s Clark Ellice came home in 33rd and Wellington’s Martin van Barneveld was 46th.

Bevan Docherty showed improved form after struggling in recent races but despite that withdrew after 7.5km of the run after picking up a 15 second stand down penalty from the officials, preferring to leave something in the tank for the big season ending Grand Final in Budapest next month.

Kris Gemmell suffered with a stomach illness though with cramping forcing his retirement in the 10km run. Both Gemmell and Docherty were with the main pack after the swim and bike and will aim up in Budapest for a big finish to the season.

Sixty-five men dove into the Schwarzsee Lake to kick off round six of the Series, and as is becoming routine, Russian super-swimmer Dmitry Polyansky stroked to the front from the start and began to string the group out. The Russian exited the first of two 750-metre loops in just under nine minutes, with a big group only seconds behind. Staying with Polyansky was his countryman Alexander Brukhankov, as well as Frederic Belaubre (FRA) and Maik Petzold (GER). The lead swim group tried to pull away from the rest of the men on lap two, but they were unable to do so as Polyansky led a long string of men into the first transition.

Onto the six-lap, 43.8K bike course, a lead group of 47 men emerged, with most all of the main contenders safely tucked away in the big group. The five-man break got away at the start of lap four, and quickly began to build a huge gap. In the break were Matt Chrabot (USA), Greg Bennett (USA), Christian Prochnow (GER), Hayes and Petzold.

"I'm trying to change the mentality of the pack," Hayes said. "A lot of guys just like to sit and wait for the run, but I'm trying to change that by biking as hard as I can. Hopefully that will make the bike more of a factor in the future."

With 15K left to ride, the lead bunch of five had extended their advantage to just under a minute, as the five men worked well together, sharing the lead every 20 seconds to maximize their gap. The group's excellent teamwork paid huge dividends, as the gap swelled to 1:43 by the time the leaders hit the second transition.

"I knew a group would breakaway today," Gomez said. "I tried to be part of a break early on, but it didn't work out. That was too much time to give guys like Stuart-he's too strong of a runner."

Hayes immediately pulled away out of transition, building a gap of 20 seconds on the rest of the lead bunch by the time he wrapped up the first of four run laps. Chrabot and Petzold ran in second and third, respectively, but were losing big chunks of time to the likes of Gomez, reigning world champ Alistair Brownlee (GBR) and current world number one Jan Frodeno (GER), as the run neared the halfway mark.

As Hayes headed into the final lap, it was clear that the gap was too big to close, and the Brit had plenty of time to slow down and enjoy his first-ever Series win. Hayes stopped the clock in 1:52:32, marking the second year in a row that a Brit has won in Kitzbühel (Brownlee was victorious in Austria last year).

Gomez secured his third consecutive podium finish with his runner-up showing, with Frodeno finishing third, another 17 seconds back of Gomez. With his third-place finish, Frodeno remains the leader of the world rankings heading into the Series Grand Final in Budapest next month.

Results: Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship: Kitzbühel, Austria

14 August 2010

Elite Men Results

Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series Rankings (race 6 of 7)