New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt finished a gutsy fifth in today's ITU Dextro Energy World Championship Series triathlon in Seoul, Korea and is third in the overall series after two races.
Hewitt raced superbly all day but couldn't stay with an incredible burst over the final 300m from winner Daniela Ryf (SUI) that took the Swiss triathlete to her first World Champs Series victory.
The placing saw Hewitt drop one spot on the overall points after two races with Sydney winner Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) finishing second and Emma Moffatt (AUS) repeating her third place finish from Sydney to move ahead of Hewitt.
Conditions were warm and overcast but thankfully there was no sign of the rain that had fallen consistently earlier in the week. The water temperature however was a cool 15 degrees with wetsuits compulsory and second swim caps a popular choice on the day.
Sarah Haskins (USA), Hayley Peirsol (USA) and Kerry Lang (GBR) broke away on the swim to lead by 40 seconds heading out on to the bike. Meanwhile Hewitt, and Debbie Tanner exited the water in the main chase group and quickly settled into their work on the bike chasing down the leaders as the trio out front looked to capitalize on their strong swim. Nicky Samuels was just seconds behind in the third group but worked hard to join her fellow Kiwis in the main chase group.
Peirsol was the first to crack, being caught by the chasers and soon Lang and Haskins suffered the same fate on the tight and technical 8 lap bike course as a lead group of 18 took shape with Kate McIlroy the only Kiwi not amongst them, the Wellingtonian was a minute back after 3 laps.
McIlroy was in good company though with Beijing Olympic champion Emma Snowsill (AUS) and Nicole Spirig (SUI) helping close the gap on the leaders with each passing lap, eventually joining the leaders on lap six of eight to form a group of 28 who rode together for the remainder of the ride.
Moffatt was quick to assert her dominance on the run, opening a 50m lead inside the first kilometre with no one able to match the Aussie's early pace. Hewitt and Tanner settled into the chase group while McIlroy and Samuels battled to stay with the pace.
Slowly but surely over the second half of the run the chase group of six, including Hewitt, Riveros and Ryf began to close the gap to Moffatt, which at one point was out to 12 seconds.
Riveros and Hewitt broke clear and with one kilometre to go drew alongside a tiring Moffatt, with 4 seconds back to the chasers which by now including Snowsill as the Aussie made a remarkable return to the sport after a year out with injury.
But there was more to come with Ryf surging over the final 500m to pass a tiring Hewitt and then Moffatt and Riveros for a stunning first win at this level. Hewitt had emptied the tank and simply had no answer once in sight of the finish line and faded to fifth as Nicole Spirig grabbed fourth place in the final 20 metres with Hewitt holding off the challenge from Olympic champion Snowsill.
Of the other Kiwis, Tanner held her form to finish in 12th place, Kate McIlroy 18th on her return from a calf injury and Nicky Samuels finished 24th.
The men's race begins at 4pm NZT with live coverage on Sky Sport 1 and at www.triathlon.org
ITU Dextro Energy World Championship Series: Seoul, Korea
Elite Women
1 Daniela Ryf Switzerland 2:01:00
2 Barbara Riveros Chile 2:01:02
3 Emma Moffatt Australia 2:01:04
4 Nicole Spirig Switzerland 2:01:05
5 Andrea Hewitt New Zealand 2:01:06
Plus NZers
12 Debbie Tanner New Zealand 2:02:27
18 Kate McIlroy New Zealand 2:03:03
24 Nicky Samuels New Zealand 2:04:21
