Brno,
Czech Republic: 31 May 2003: The ITU International
Race EKOL Superprestige Brno was held on May 31st
under hot calm summer weather at 30 °C. The women
started at 11:30a.m. without wetsuits, in 21 C warm
water of the dam reservoir being followed by the men
at 3:30 p.m.
Two
groups of women formed after the 1.5km swim course
with Czech's Lenka Radova among the first group
to exit, leaving her in a very favourable postion.
This group steadily increased their lead to one
and half minutes before being pulled back by the
chase group. They entered the second transition
with their lead reduced to 30 seconds. Lenka Radova
explained after the race, "Up to 20 kilometres
we worked very well together, but then something
went very wrong",. But running is a strength
for Radova, and once onto the 10km run course she
increased her lead to 50 seconds before cruising
home to take the win. "I cooled down in the
last lap to enjoy the home straight", said
the native competitor. Renata Berkova and Vendual
Frintova were 2nd and 3rd which meant a clean sweep
of the podium for the Czech Republic.
Click
here for complete women's results
Didier
Brocard of Switzerland won the men's, beating home-country
favourite Filip Ospaly, the silver medallist at the
2002 European Championship. The victory was a slim
margin of only 12 seconds.
A
group of 30 cyclists formed after the swim section
in which no one was able to break away. During the
5-lap (2 kilometers laps), Filip Ospaly was in control
at the front. In the dying moments of the race Didier
Brocard picked up the pace and took over the lead
in the last kilometer. "One kilometer before
the post I was in pain and the Swiss took advantage
of it. In hindsight, I think I ran myself out on the
bike section. We always learn something," said
Ospaly. Mike Aigroz was 3rd which gave Switzerland
2 out of 3 of the podium finishes.
Click
here for complete men's results
