At
a press conference the day before the race Chris McCormack,
the Australian who won the Gamagori World Cup event
last weekend summed up this event when he said "any
weakness will show on this course."
He
was right - on a day already plagued with high humidity,
athletes were forced to battled against the wind,
which swept over the Southengata Bridge, the hardest
part of the course due to its incline and the effect
of the wind.
In
the women's race Loretta Harrop (AUS) looked strong
throughout and after settling for third in Gamagori
it was clear she was going to fight this one to the
very end however hard the battle.
In
the swim, American Barbara Lindquist led from the
beginning and as they left the first transition she
led by 10 seconds over Harrop, New Zealander Rina
Hill, and Laura Reback (USA), winner of the Gamagori
event. Pilar Hidalgo from Spain, Steph Forrester (GBR)
and American Siri Lindley all followed closely behind.
Linquist
soon gave up the lead as Harrop, Hill and Reback appeared
at her wheel. This lead pack remained together until
lap two of the bike when Hill dropped off. By the
end of lap two Hill was 1 minute 20 seconds behind
the top three as they picked up the pace. A chase
pack of eight athletes including Lindley, Forrester,
Hidalgo and Australian Liz Blatchford soon caught
Hill to form the main chase pack.
The
three leaders maintained their pace and rode into
transition two with a 2 min 55 second lead over the
chase pack led by Blatchford.
It
was the run, that changed the course of the race.
During lap one, Reback could no longer keep pace with
Harrop and Linquist and they were soon running neck
and neck in the lead. By the end of lap one, Reback
was 50 seconds behind the leaders. In fourth and fifth
positions were Siri Lindley and Steph Forrester.
Harrop
and Linquist continued to extend their lead and by
the end of lap two Reback had fallen to 1 min 20 seconds
behind. Meanwhile, Lindley steped up her pace - pulling
herself into fourth and only 40 seconds behind Reback.
Steph Forrester remaned in the hunt behind Lindley.
Lindley
finally caught Reback on the last lap. While Harrop
managed to outsprint Linquist in the final finish
straight - in the end, only 2 seconds seperated thier
finish times. Lindley held on for third position.
Throughout
the men's race it was never certain who would take
the top podium position. After lap one of the swim,
brothers Matt and Shane Reed from New Zealand, along
with Frenchman Laurent Jeanselme, Australian Greg
Bennett and World ranked number one, Hamish Carter
were leading a close field.
At
the first transition Jeanselme led a pack of fifteen
athletes which included Bennett, the Reed brothers,
last year's winner Australian Courtney Atkinson and
New Zealanders Kris Gemmell and Hamish Carter. A chasing
pack led by Dmitry Gaag (KAZ) and Dane Rasmus Henning
followed closely behind. Last week's winner, McCormack
and Marc Jenkins (GBR) headed up a third pack.
Within
the first lap, the leaders were caught and Henning
moved into the lead as they entered lap two. The lead
pack raced together throughout the 40km bike with
the chase group led by McCormack catching them on
lap four of the bike.
By
the final transition the field had spread out. While
Carter and Bevan Doherty (NZL) and Australian Greg
Bennett lead the field, 10 seconds in front of the
main pack which still included Gemmell, the Reed brothers,
Atkinson and Eneko Llanos (ESP).
After
a closely fought cycle, the field eventually started
to disperse on the run. Bennett, who had fought hard
to stay in the lead pack throughout the bike, retired
in the first lap of the run - exhaustion had taken
its toll. Carter, looking strong took the lead over
the first half of the run with Gaag, Gemmell and Atkinson
in pursuit. By the end of the first lap these three
were five seconds down on Carter.
In
the second lap of the run Craig Watson (NZL) caught
the leaders and was soon on Carter's tail, eventually
overtaking him on Southengata bridge. The field closed
in and soon Andrew Johns (GBR), Atkinson, Gaag and
Spaniard Ivan Rana, who had been in the main pack
for most of the race, stepped up their pace and gave
chase.
Going
into the final lap, Carter and Watson were neck and
neck, Carter never willing to give up his lead while
Rana moved into third place, five seconds behind.
In
the final lap Watson took a 20 metre lead over his
teammate Carter and Rana, looking strong, soon pulled
passed Carter and challenged Watson to the finish.
After a spint to the line, the young Spaniard out
kicked his rival from New Zealand to win the first
World Cup event of his young career. Ishigaki must
be lucky for newcomers as it provided Courtney Atkinson
with his first World Cup victory a year ago. Craig
Watson crossed the line on Rana's heels for second
place while World number one, Hamish Carter finished
third.
Complete
Results
