 Michael Poole(Photo: Alwyn Poole; click to enlarge) |
The 3rd race in the 5150 series in the USA was turned into a duathlon on Sunday morning due to strong winds on Lake Pontrachain, New Orleans.
The first run of approximately 3km was run very quickly by Ben Collins and Kris Gemmell who got a gap on the filed. 19 year old Michael Poole quickly rode through to second and held that spot until right near the end of the cycle when US triathlon legend Chris Leito came past. Poole rode the 40km in 55.24 on a windy and undulating course to come off the bike in 3rd place behind Collins and Leito.
Onto the run Gemmell charged through into second place but could not catch the flying Collins. Poole caught and passed Leito and ran in 3rd until the last 800m before being caught by British athlete James Hadley and American James Burns. Australian Clayton Fettell (5th at Ishigaki World cup 2010) was 6th.
For Poole it is another indicator of ability – especially marked against the likes of highly rated Team USA 2016 squad member Derek Oskutsis back in 11th place. Oskutsis has a 2009 World U23 Duathlon 5th place to his name – beating current ITU top 10 athlete Joao Silva on that day.
Poole commented that "the change to the duathlon format certainly made the last run seem hard. These races are so tough as it is all on your own and no possibility of a bunch to hide in. That, along with competing against the likes of Collins, Gemmell, Fettell and Leito means that you really dig deep for the entire race."
Gemmell and Poole both now head to Memphis for the next race in the series in a weeks time.
