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Media
Release, 11 April , 2003
Eneko
Llanos and Virginia Berasategui Win World Long Distance Titles
Ibiza
Island, Spain: Dawn broke over this jewel of the western Mediterranean
with perfect conditions for the 2003 ITU Long Distance World Championships;
clear skies, no wind, and water temperatures at 18oC. As the elite women
assembled for the 7:30 a.m. start, the island's residents were beginning
to line the course and gather at the finish line. The spectator-friendly
design of the course included a 1 lap, 4km swim, a 2-lap 120km bike,
and a 3-lap 30km run.
The bike course featured the famous "San Juan climb, a challenging
5km hill on each lap. 900 elite and age group athletes competed in today's
World Championships, and as one local spectator commented, "It
is wonderful to have 60km of Ibiza's roads empty of cars and full of
bikes."
In the women's event Virginia Berasategui of Spain, who was 3rd in the
Nice 2002 ITU Long Distance World Championships was seeded #1, and stayed
true to her position by capturing the World title, driving the estimated
25,000 Spanish spectators into a frenzy.
Ianesi Manuela of Italy emerged first from the swim in 51:14; with a
40 second lead over Ana Burgos of Spain. Berasategui was a further 5
seconds back.
Once on the bike however, Virginia Berasategui powered her way to the
front with Erika Csomor of Hungary, the 2001 ITU Duathlon World Champion,
Lisbeth Kristensen of Denmark, the 2001 ITU Long Distance World Champion,
Sione Jongstra of the Netherlands and Sophie Delemer of France in hot
pursuit.
Ana Burgos had dropped back to 5th place by the time Berasategui had
breezed through the bike to run transition after posting the fastest
bike split and a 10-minute lead on the rest of the field.
From then on, it was Virginia's day, as she seemed to gather strength
on the run from the home country fans that lined the course. Spanish
teammate, Ana Burgos also took on the crowd's energy and once on her
feet she overcame her 12-minute deficit at the second transition and
captured the second step on the podium. Netherlands Sione Jongstra,
a relative newcomer to international competition made a name for herself
in Ibiza by placing 3rd, with Great Britain's Bella Comerford 4th and
Edith Niederfriniger of Italy 5th.
In the men's event, Eneko Llanos of ITU Olympic-distance World Cup fame,
gave the Spanish crowd lots to cheer about today.
In the swim, it was Faris Al-Sultan of Germany who exited first in a
time of 46:48, a mere 20 seconds ahead of Patrick Vernay of France,
Philippe Achlettner of Switzerland, Dean Mitchell of Australia, and
Gianpetrio De Faveri of Italy. Eneko Llanos was 35 seconds behind the
leader at this point in 7th place.
By the 30km mark of the bike Faris Al-Sultan, Eneko Llanos and Casper
Vanden Burgh were exchanging positions at the front as they start the
San Juan climb, followed by a scattered group of 20 athletes including
Norman Stadler of Germany and Marcel Zamora of Spain.
By 40km Eneko Llanos had broken all challengers and was continually
building his lead at the front. By the second transition he had almost
a 4 minutes lead as he started the 30km - 3-lap run, much to the delight
of the adoring home country fans. Marcel Zamora was in 3rd place at
this time, adding to the crowd's enthusiasm.
Eneko Llanos' lead was seriously challenged on the run, as Rutger Beke
of Belgium and Xavier Le Floch of France both reeled him back. But their
running pace was not enough to overtake the Spanish favourite as he
posted a 5:37:16 finish time, a minute and 10 seconds ahead of Rutger
Beke who was second. Xavier Le Floch was 3rd, 30 second behind Beke.
Marcel Zamora of Spain and Mika Luoto of Finland rounded out the top
5.
As athletes and National Federation delegates headed off to the post-event
celebrations they were full of praise for the Event Organisers of the
first ever World Championship on the island of Ibiza, as well as the
Spain Triathlon Federation, for the stellar job they did in hosting
the 2003 Ibiza ITU Long Distance World Championships.
The next event on the ITU Long Distance World Tour will take place in
Sater, Sweden on 13 July 2003.
For complete results, photos and event details of the 2003 Ibiza ITU
Long Distance World Championships, please visit www.triathlon.org
For more information or high-resolution photos, please contact
Lisa Ogilvie, ITU Media Manager, email: lisa@triathlon.org
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